Former DeMar DeRozan teammates the Chicago Bulls could look at in free agency: Keita Bates-Diop
A more potentially realistic option for the Bulls to add through free agency in the remainder of the offseason that is also a former DeRozan teammate is the former Spurs forward Keita Bates-Diop. The former second-round pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2018 NBA Draft has already played for three different teams in his career to date.
The 6-foot-8 and 230-pound Bates-Diop is still just 25 years old and has a lot of room to grow. Considering the two-way impact he can bring to the table and his switchability between the three and the four, he could be a nice versatile fit for the Bulls. It’s clear that the Bulls need help with depth at the four, and Bates-Diop could provide that at a premium of what it would cost for a more proven veteran power forward.
If the Bulls could get some type of still-developing version of Bates-Diop from what he was during the 2019-20 season with the Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets that would be great. Bates-Diop shot around 33 percent from beyond the arc and 43 percent from the field that season. And that was his most productive defensive season in three years in the NBA to date.
There is an encouraging trend as a whole with the defensive efficiency that Bates-Diop brings to the table. He is a lengthy and gifted athlete that just posted a career-best 0.8 defensive box plus/minus last season. It’s also not out of the realm of possibility that Bates-Diop could give the Bulls a 2.0 steal percentage and 3.0 block percentage next season, if Karnisovas did sign him.