Chicago Bulls: 3 Thunder players to reunite with Billy Donovan

3) Who Chicago Bulls could reunite with Donovan

One very realistic free agent target for the Bulls this offseason, that was also a player that was coached up by Donovan for a good while during his five years leading the Thunder, is the Nuggets 26-year-old small forward/power forward Jerami Grant. This versatile two-way 6-foot-8 and 210 pound forward could either play on the wing or as a stretch-four for the Bulls if he were to land in the Windy City this offseason.

Especially if the Bulls decide to part ways with the likes of the veteran former Indiana Pacers forward Thaddeus Young in the near future, signing Grant would make a lot of sense for Karnisovas and Eversley to reunite with Donovan. Grant showed a lot of progress in his game on both ends of the floor over the course of the last three years.

Moreover, during the shortened 2019-20 regular season, Grant played in 71 games with the Nuggets (two dozen of which he started in). And he averaged 12.0 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.8 blocks. Grant shot an improved 47.8 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from beyond the arc, and 75.0 percent from the free-throw line.

That all amounted to a -0.5 box plus/minus rating, 0.7 value over replacement player rating, .111 win shares per 48 minutes, 4.4 total win shares, a solid 59.1 true shooting percentage, and 14.4 player efficiency rating. A lot of the value that Grant would bring to the table for the Bulls started showing through during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons with the Thunder, on the defensive end of the floor. That defensive value isn’t always represented well in the advanced metrics.