3 Bulls players that are slumping to start off January

Chicago Bulls players slumping to start January: Alfonzo McKinnie

A couple of weeks ago, the Bulls officially added the former Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers’ power forward Alfonzo McKinnie on for the rest of the season. He was originally signed down to a 10-day contract to fill depth needs for the team last month in the wake of a plethora of COVID-19-related issues and the league’s health and safety protocol.

There were a few games where McKinnie played well enough for the Bulls to earn a spot on the roster for the rest of the season. In his first three games coming off the bench for the Bulls, McKinnie provided a solid boost in production. He registered eight points per game, 2.5 rebounds, one assist, 0.5 steals, and one block in his first three games with the Bulls this season.

But after entering the health and safety protocol last month, the wave of momentum with McKinnie and the Bulls slowed down a bit.

McKinnie returned to the rotation for the Bulls for their Jan. 3 matchup against the Orlando Magic. But he’s largely faded in terms of his production and overall presence in the last three games. He’s hit just one of three field-goal attempts, missed two attempts from beyond the arc, and hasn’t done much otherwise.

In just 11 minutes played since the turn of the calendar year, the presence of McKinnie has really just faded. It’s not like he’s putting up poor numbers while getting a lot of playing time. It looks like he just needs a bounce-back game in the near future to prove that he belongs with the top eight or 10 players in the rotation.