1) Grading Chicago Bulls free agents
This former undrafted free agent signing that made his NBA debut back during the 2009-10 season with the Houston Rockets Temple made sense as an addition to the Bulls backcourt rotation. Karnisovas and the Bulls signed Temple for a one-year contract worth around $5 million. Since they were so strapped for cap space this offseason, signing a veteran like Temple isn’t the worst move.
However, it does feel like there were some more creative moves that Karnisovas could’ve made on the free agent market. Temple doesn’t feel like much of an upgrade, if any, over the likes of point guard Kris Dunn (signed with the Atlanta Hawks) and/or combo guard Shaquille Harrison (still on the free agent market).
The 34-year-old 6-foot-5 and 195 pound shooting guard Temple is a solid perimeter defender and just an overall intelligent player on both ends of the floor. He played in 62 games during the shortened 2019-20 regular season with the Nets (35 of which he started in). And Temple averaged 10.3 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks. He shot 37.8 percent from the field, 32.9 percent from beyond the arc, and 80.5 percent from the free-throw line.
The Temple signing could work out well for the Bulls. He was likely brought in to be a hybrid replacement of Dunn and Harrison as a solid one-on-one defender, and he can also bring that valuable veteran voice to the locker room. At least he could maybe help develop some of the younger guards/wings on this roster.