Chicago Bulls: 3 most efficient role players coming off the bench
1) Chicago Bulls efficient bench players
Denzel Valentine, Shooting Guard
Maybe the most surprising name on this list that is pretty efficient out of the gates for the Bulls so far this season is the former Michigan State Spartans 27-year-old 6-foot-4 shooting guard/wing Denzel Valentine. The fifth-year sharpshooting guard/wing is having his most productive and efficient season in his NBA career to date.
Not only is the solid start of Valentine through the first 20 percent or so of the regular season slate a very good sign, it’s a mark of confidence for both Donovan and the Bulls new front office regime. The likes of first-year executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley gave Valentine a vote of confidence by re-signing him off the restricted free agent market to a one-year contract.
And, at least at the moment, the vote of confidence is paying off nicely for Karnisovas and Eversley from the play of Valentine early in this regular season slate. He’s played in nine games so far this season for the Bulls (none of which he’s started in), while averaging just north of 18 minutes on the floor per game.
Next. Takeaways from decisive win over Mavs. dark
Valentine averaged 7.0 points per game, 4.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals (career-high thus far), 0.1 blocks, and a manageable 0.7 turnovers. And he’s shot 43.6 percent from the field, an efficient 39.4 percent from beyond the arc, and is perfect on just a few attempts from the free-throw line.
That all has amounted to a much improved 0.5 box plus/minus rating, .091 win shares per 48 minutes, 56.4 true shooting percentage, 14.2 player efficiency rating, and a 111 offensive rating/110 defensive rating.