Chicago Bulls Players that Struggled in April: Denzel Valentine
Another player whose time in Chicago is inevitably coming to an end, Denzel Valentine struggled in the month despite having opportunities. Valentine only played 13.9 minutes per game in April, but he was given the opportunity to provide a much-needed scoring threat from the wing when Zach LaVine was announced out for an undisclosed amount of time.
Denzel failed to provide that scoring, though. He averaged 4.7 points per game in 15 April contests on poor shooting numbers. He shot 36.6 percent from the field, including 28.9 percent from behind the arc.
28.9 percent from three is bad enough, but doing that on three attempts per game just means your slowing down your team’s offense far too much. Valentine has developed a bit of a tendency to do exactly that.
While he flashes the offensive upside that got him drafted 14th overall on occasion and has actually been crucial in the Bulls winning a few games this season, he does not have the ability to recognize which way his shooting is going on any given night.
If he could lay off things from an aggressive standpoint he would still have the ability to impact games in a positive way on nights he isn’t getting his offensively. Instead, he has helped put the team in bad spots more often than not.
On a number of occasions, it felt as if head coach Billy Donovan would be pulling him from the rotation only for that to not come to fruition. While Valentine will long have a spot on an NBA roster, it is months like April that prove why he is more of a fringe rotation player than anything else at this point in his career.