Chicago Bulls: 3 free agent targets to replace Shaquille Harrison

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Dwayne Bacon Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

2) Chicago Bulls free agent targets to replace Shaquille Harrison: Dwayne Bacon

The extreme potential that the 6-foot-6 and 220 pound sizable shooting guard/wing Dwayne Bacon came out of the Florida State Seminoles basketball program with hasn’t shown through on a consistent basis as of yet. Bacon did show his fair share of flashes in the last two seasons with the Charlotte Hornets, but nothing consistently as of yet either.

It’s not like the Hornets invested all that much into Bacon in the first place, though. He was their second round pick (40th overall) out of Tallahassee in the 2017 NBA Draft. Since then, Bacon saw a steadily increasing role and mixed results in terms of per game stats and advanced metrics.

During the shortened 2019-20 regular season with the Hornets, Bacon played in 39 games (starting in 11 of them). He also started in a career-high 13 games (of the 43 he played in total) during the 2018-19 season.

In the 39 games Bacon played in the season that was for the Hornets, he averaged 5.7 points per game, 2.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.1 blocks. Bacon shot 34.8 percent from the field, 28.4 percent from beyond the arc, and 66.0 percent from the free-throw line.

There’s certainly a lot of improvement that Bacon needs to show in the near future. But his defensive game got a lot better in the last two years. Where Bacon showed the most progression on the offensive end of the floor was during the 2018-19 season. He shot 47.5 percent from the field and 43.7 percent from beyond the arc, with a career high 7.3 points per game, two seasons ago.

The Bulls would be trying to recapture the magic that Bacon started to find during his second season in the NBA if they were able to sign him. Bacon will be a restricted free agent this offseason.