With the defensive standout point guard Kris Dunn gone for the Chicago Bulls this offseason, which guards will need to step up in his place?
One of the more surprising parts of the offseason in the Chicago Bulls camp was some of the decision made on the restricted free agent market by newly hired executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley. The Bulls brought back two of their four impending free agent guards heading into this offseason.
The two that the Bulls brought back among their restricted free agent guards were second-year shooting guard/wing Adam Mokoka and 27-year-old 6-foot-4 shooting guard Denzel Valentine. Mokoka did flash some potential at times last season, so bringing him back in one of the two-way contract slots wasn’t all that surprising. But bringing back Valentine certainly shocked a large faction of the Bulls fan base.
And the two restricted free agent guards that the Bulls let walk this offseason were defensive stopper point guard Kris Dunn and breakthrough combo guard Shaquille Harrison. Dunn wound up signing a two-year value contract with the Atlanta Hawks. And the Utah Jazz got a steal out of Harrison, as they signed him to a one-year minimum contract.
New scheme philosophies and rotational movement likely caused Karnisovas to make some of these moves. He’s trying to put the best rotation possible together that he can on the floor for newly hired head coach Billy Donovan.
The Bulls still have a lot of defensive value to replace as they let Dunn and Harrison walk. Namely, Dunn was the Bulls best perimeter defender they’ve had in recent memory. Here’s a look into three players that will have to step up for the Bulls this season in the wake of Dunn’s absence.
3) Chicago Bulls who replace Dunn’s role
Karnisovas and the Bulls got themselves a safe veteran signing that will bring an experienced and tempered voice to the locker room this season with the former Brooklyn Nets 34-year-old 6-foot-5 and 195 pound shooting guard Garrett Temple. It was a tad surprising that the Bulls were willing to part ways with Dunn in favor of Temple.
But the fit between Temple and the rest of this backcourt rotation, in the new Donovan scheme, could be more natural than Dunn would be. Temple has showed the capability to shoot decently well consistently from downtown in the past. He did take a bit of a step back in the shooting efficiency department last season, though.
During the shortened 2019-20 regular season with the Nets, Temple played in 62 games (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.
The Bulls did at least get Temple on a contract that didn’t cost much, for one-year for $5 million. He isn’t the long-term answer for the Bulls establishing a solid defensive presence on the perimeter. But he can help mentor the likes of rookie point guard Coby White and Valentine. And he might even be able to help out the defensive game of standout shooting guard Zach LaVine.
2) Chicago Bulls who replace Dunn’s role
The role of the 6-foot-3 and 195 pound former Villanova Wildcats point guard and the 26-year-old undrafted free agent Ryan Arcidiacono is likely to rapidly expand at the outset of this season. Two of the guards that definitely took a lot of the playing time away from Arcidiacono over the course of the last two seasons are Harrison and Dunn.
It’s not only the loss of Dunn that will cause the role of Arcidiacono to be expanded, Harrison signing with the Jazz will also give him more of an opportunity in the spotlight. There are certain areas of Arcidiacono’s game that he did improve upon last season that should make him a very nice scheme fit with Donovan.
During the shortened 2019-20 regular season, Arcidiacono played in 58 games with the Bulls (just four of which he started in). And he averaged 4.5 points per game, 1.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.1 blocks. and just 0.6 turnovers. Arcidiacono shot 40.9 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from beyond the arc, and 71.1 percent from the free-throw line.
The grind it out approach to Arcidiacono’s game, and his constantly improving shooting efficiency from downtown, is likely the reason why he will hold a more prominent role in the Bulls backcourt rotation this season. Improving the on-ball defense will be a key for Arcidiacono this season, though, given that his defensive box plus/minus rating sat below zero for the first time in his career last year.
1) Chicago Bulls who replace Dunn’s role
The other important guard in the Bulls rotation that will have to take on a lot of the matchups defending on the perimeter that Dunn and/or Harrison would otherwise is the lengthy 6-foot-7 and 210 pound 29-year-old combo guard Tomas Satoransky. The former 32nd overall pick in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft of the Washington Wizards took a bit of a step back during the latter portion of last season.
Sato looked like a really good signing out of the gates for the Bulls last season, but his per game stats and overall efficiency waned as the season moved along. His play dropped off so much in February and early March that he wound up coming off the bench in the Bulls de facto final game of last season, in favor of then rookie point guard White.
During the shortened 2019-20 regular season, Sato played in all 65 games with the Bulls (all but one of which he started in). And he averaged 9.9 points per game, 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.1 blocks, and 2.0 turnovers. Sato shot 43.0 percent from the field, 32.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 87.6 percent from the free-throw line.
Assuming that White takes the starting point guard role for the Bulls at the outset of the 2020-21 regular season, a lot of the pressure will be taken off Sato’s shoulders. It will also give Donovan the option to run Sato at the one or the two off the bench. Maybe Sato can be more efficient with the ball in his hands if his role as a primary ball handler in the starting five with the Bulls is done.