Chicago Bulls fighting for their spot in the rotation in February: Malcolm Hill
Last month, the Bulls elected to part ways with the former undrafted free agent and Kansas Jayhawks star point guard Devon Dotson, who was previously in one of the two-way contract slots. The second-year point guard Dotson held one of the two-way contract slots for the Bulls for the last couple of seasons. That was until the Bulls let him go in favor of the former Illinois Fighting Illini wing Malcolm Hill.
Hill actually hit the ground running with the Bulls when the rotation was really short-handed last month. Going all the way back to late December, there were some games where Hill played a really critical role in the rotation for the Bulls.
In fact, Hill had four games where he played in at least 17 minutes off the bench for the Bulls from late December through mid-January. He also got at least some playing time for the Bulls in five more games from Jan. 19 to Jan. 30.
But the return of key players in the rotation such as wing Javonte Green and star shooting guard Zach LaVine pushed Hill back further on the depth chart. Even the return of power forward Tyler Cook pushed Hill down the bench in the last couple of weeks.
Now, Hill is looking to prove himself in whatever minutes he does get off the bench this month. He’ll really need to prove his value to the Bulls’ front office and coaching staff ahead of the looming trade deadline. If not, he could see his minutes zeroed out by the time the rest of the injured players for the Bulls return this month or next.