Chicago Bulls: 3 players bound to disappoint in the second half

3) Chicago Bulls players bound to disappoint in second half

Daniel Gafford, Center

The frontcourt rotation is going to be called more into question entering the second half of the regular season schedule than the backcourt since they had all sorts of injury and consistency issues during the first half. Although the first big man up on this list for the Bulls is one that mostly stayed healthy during the first half, he surely saw his role decrease a bit in the frontcourt rotation.

Second-year former Arkansas Razorbacks center Daniel Gafford proved to be one of the hidden gem finds in the second round of the 2019 NBA Draft. John Paxson and Gar Forman had a nice find for the Bulls in the 2019 draft when they snagged Gafford 38th overall. But the usage of Gafford by Donovan compared to former head coach Jim Boylen actually isn’t benefiting parts of his stat line as much as it did during his rookie campaign.

Gafford also isn’t getting as much playing time of late as he did down the stretch last season, or out of the gates for this campaign. He’s playing around one minute less on the floor per game, and that playing time has steadily decreased in the weeks leading up to the All-Star Break. Center Luke Kornet is getting a bigger role in the frontcourt rotation from Donovan of late than Gafford.

Maybe if Gafford is ability to excel more as a rebounder and rim protector after the All-Star Break, more minutes for him off the bench will come back. So far this season, he’s averaged around five points per game, three rebounds, less than one assist, around 0.5 steals, and more than one block. And he’s shot 66.7 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from the free-throw line.