1) Chicago Bulls players to blame for 4-game skid
Denzel Valentine, Shooting Guard
A strong start to this regular season slate for the former Michigan State Spartans 6-foot-4 27-year-old shooting guard/wing Denzel Valentine largely waned of late. As one of the riskier signings from the Bulls new front office regime on the restricted free agent market during the 2020 offseason, Valentine is still trying to prove his worth early on this season.
That all came to a climax when Valentine got in the way of LaVine when he tried to take the game-winning shot in the dying seconds of the eventual overtime loss to the Thunder two days ago. Valentine could’ve ran to the corner to get open and space out the floor for the charging LaVine. Instead, he just got in the way at the top of the key and didn’t give LaVine that much room to go to work in a very limited timeframe.
Moreover, Valentine’s play as a whole so far this season still isn’t too shabby. This might just be a down stretch he’s facing of late. That hopefully is something that will turn the corner in the very near future.
Through nine games played so far this season (none of which he’s started in), Valentine averaged 7.0 points per game, 4.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.1 blocks. And he’s shot 43.6 percent from the field, 39.4 percent from beyond the arc, and is perfect on just a few attempts from the free-throw line.
In the last four games, Valentine was a net negative on the floor on almost every occasion. His game score in two of those four games was also one of the worst on the entire team. Righting the ship, starting with this outing against the Mavs on the afternoon of Jan. 17, could start with getting more efficient play from the bench from key role players like Valentine.