Chicago Bulls: 3 players that must go before the rebuild can advance

3) Players that must go for rebuild to advance: Denzel Valentine

There comes a time when a player has apparently outstayed his welcome on a coach’s bench. In the case of the Bulls fifth-year former Michigan State Spartans shooting guard/wing Denzel Valentine, his time with the Bulls might be running up next offseason. Valentine was in the final year of his rookie contract last season.

But first-year executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley did elect to re-sign Valentine off of the restricted free agent market to a one-year contract worth around $5 million last offseason. That looked to be a good move out of the gates this season, but Valentine’s role and productivity with the team has waned of late.

It feels like the 6-foot-4 and 200 pound 27-year-old capable shooter and offensive facilitator should be playing better than he is at the moment. But he’s winding up with a declining amount of playing time as the season moves along, just like his role did last season under the direction of former head coach Jim Boylen.

The main reason that the Bulls brought Valentine back for one more year was his ability to space the floor and distribute the ball as a second or third unit creator. Instead, he’s shooting just 33.8 percent from beyond the arc and averaging around 1.5 assists per game. His assist-to-turnover ratio isn’t all that bad (1.7-0.6 per game), and Valentine definitely isn’t the Bulls biggest problem at this point.

However, Valentine’s current spot in the rotation and his money on the cap sheet looks like it could be better utilized elsewhere in the future.