1. Denzel Valentine, Shooting Guard
And we’ve arrived at the final name on this list. It involves a player that is on the Bulls roster at the moment, but might not be for much longer. Former Michigan State Spartans 6-foot-4 and 210 pound shooting guard Denzel Valentine did show some flashes at times this season in his fourth-year with the Bulls.
But the overall production and advanced metrics for Valentine shows that he would be a big risk to bring back beyond the 2019-20 season, and the Bulls might be able to do better elsewhere via free agency or the NBA Draft. Valentine is set to hit the restricted free agent market this offseason if the Bulls don’t re-sign him since he was in the final year of his rookie contract.
Playing in 36 games in the season that was for the Bulls (starting in five of them), Valentine averaged 6.8 points per game, 2.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.2 blocks. He shot 40.9 percent from the field, 33.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 75.0 percent from the free-throw line. Valentine has to be a better shooter if he’s going to stick around with any team in the NBA.
The Bulls definitely need a lot of wing help this offseason in some regard, but bringing Valentine back likely isn’t the answer the new look front office is looking for. While his -0.5 box plus/minus rating and 13.0 player efficiency rating were career-bests, they still aren’t good enough for Valentine to get a decent contract extension this offseason.