Chicago Bulls: 2 studs, 1 dud, from the undefeated preseason

Chicago Bulls dud from the preseason: Troy Brown Jr.

There will be lofty expectations for the former Washington Wizards shooting guard/small forward Troy Brown Jr. heading into the regular season. The former first-round draft pick and 22-year-old Las Vegas, NV, native is coming into the first contract year of his career. There should be a bigger chip on his shoulder than ever before.

Yet, that didn’t show in his run with the Bulls during the preseason. Brown was one of the worst players on the Bulls in player efficiency rating, true shooting percentage, and offensive and defensive rating. The counting stats and shooting percentages weren’t good for Brown either.

In four games played during the preseason, Brown averaged five points per game, two rebounds, two assists, 0.5 steals, and no blocks. And he shot 33.3 percent from the field, 26.7 percent from beyond the arc, and he didn’t have any attempts from the free-throw line.

The Bulls often used Brown as a three-point threat during the preseason. And while he was a corner three-point threat in the last few seasons, that clearly didn’t stick during the preseason. Maybe this was just a down stretch for him. And if he responds well at the outset of the regular season, everyone will quickly forget about his preseason performance.

While Brown is a streaky scorer, you normally don’t see him fall flat as he did during the preseason. He had some untimely turnovers, wasn’t the solid on-ball defender that he usually is, and he couldn’t hit all that many shots. Hopefully, he will be staring at a quick bounce-back early in the regular season.