Chicago Bulls: Leadership could be Garrett Temple’s key quality
Former Brooklyn Nets veteran shooting guard Garrett Temple could be an important veteran voice in the Chicago Bulls locker room.
In a piece released by the Chicago Bulls team writer (formerly of the Chicago Tribune) Sam Smith on Nov. 28, the philosophy behind signing the former Brooklyn Nets 34-year-old veteran shooting guard Garrett Temple got the spotlight. Up until the Bulls signed big man Noah Vonleh and second-year shooting guard Zach Norvell, Temple was the lone real addition through free agency to the roster for next season.
Temple brings a lot of intangibles to the table for the Bulls, but this is something that they added through the free agent market last offseason. The Bulls were able to sign the likes of guard Tomas Satoransky, center Luke Kornet, and forward Thaddeus Young, out of free agency last offseason, but it didn’t do much to help their success in the win column.
Maybe the signing of Temple along with the reshaped front office regime and coaching staff will shift the direction of this Bulls rebuild heading into its fourth year. The Bulls hired Arturas Karnisovas to take over for John Paxson as the lead voice in the front office, and Marc Eversley replaced Gar Forman as the next general manager.
The official title for Karnisovas with the Bulls will be the executive vice president of basketball operations.
However, the arguments that Smith makes in this piece detailing the reasoning for the Bulls signing of Temple is mostly surrounding his intangibles. From his off-the-court business aspirations, to his fashion, to his defensive philosophy, Temple brings a lot of new aspects to the table for this Bulls locker room.
The most obvious reason why the Bulls signed Temple was the fit he had to replace the likes of point guard Kris Dunn and combo guard Shaquille Harrison, namely on the defensive end of the floor. Dunn and Harrison were both very good on-ball defenders, as is Temple.
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Temple played in 62 games during the shortened 2019-20 regular season with the Nets (35 of which he started in). And he averaged 10.3 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks. Temple shot 37.8 percent from the field, 32.9 percent from beyond the arc, and 80.5 percent from the free-throw line.