3 former Chicago Bulls that have shined since leaving the team

Former Chicago Bulls shining since leaving the team: Luke Kornet

Another former Bulls big man that was dealt from the Windy City on deadline day last month that really has seen a night and day difference in his game since March 25 is the former Vanderbilt Commodores two-way center Luke Kornet. The trek for Kornet to play for only big market teams in the East in his career thus far stuck at the deadline.

In his four-year-long NBA career to date, Kornet has only played for the Bulls, New York Knicks, and now the Celtics. The Bulls dealt both Wagner and Kornet on deadline day to the Celtics to get the return that consisted of Theis and Green. And at least in terms of getting Theis in the frontcourt rotation, this seems like a move that worked out well for both the Bulls and Celtics.

Kornet has played well off the bench for the Celtics frontcourt rotation and looks more like the productive reserve big man that he was in his days early in his career with the Knicks.

In 49 games played over the course of the last two seasons with the Bulls (getting just over a dozen starts in the process), Kornet averaged 4.9 points per game, 2.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.7 blocks. And he shot 42.5 percent from the field, 28.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 68.8 percent from the free-throw line.

Since landing with the Celtics, Kornet has more than doubled his number of win shares per 48 minutes, has improved his box plus/minus rating, showed nearly a six percent improvement in his true shooting percentage, and has a much higher rebounding percentage and block percentage. In fact, Kornet’s block percentage is above 8.0 for the first time in his career in his time with the Celtics thus far, and he’s posted a career-best defensive rebounding rate of 18.5 percent.