Newly signed Chicago Bulls standout defender and veteran shooting guard Garrett Temple has had some nice one-on-one defensive outings in his career so far.
What was possibly the biggest free agent signing during a rather quiet cycle for the Chicago Bulls over the offseason came in the form of the veteran 34-year-old former Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Garrett Temple. The Bulls signed the 6-foot-5 and 195 pound career journeyman to a one-year contract worth around $5 million.
The signing of Temple seemed to take care of a few things for newly hired executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley. He’s a true veteran voice in the locker room that can help mentor this young core, and he’s a really good perimeter defender.
There are stretches of Temple’s career where he was a decent secondary ball handler and facilitator off the bench and could shoot well from deep. But those reasons are not likely why Karnisovas, Eversley, and the Bulls signed Temple out of free agency over the offseason.
Two of the biggest losses for the Bulls into free agency were both guards that played integral roles for this rotation on the defensive end of the floor in the last couple of years. Former Bulls defensive stopper point guard Kris Dunn wound up signing a two-year contract with the Atlanta Hawks, worth $10 million total.
And former Bulls breakthrough combo guard Shaquille Harrison signed a one-year minimum deal with the Utah Jazz earlier this month.
The addition of Temple to the backcourt rotation is some affordable veteran hybrid signing that can fill the roles of a lot of what Harrison and Dunn did for the Bulls in recent seasons. But to truly understand the defensive value that Temple brings to the table, we need to look back on some of the better players he’s matched up against in his career to date.
Here’s a deeper look into three NBA stars that Temple has played a role in to shut down defensively, at least on a semi-consistent, basis in his career so far.