Winner: Javonte Green
With all eyes on the battle for the starting point guard spot, I don’t think anybody expected Javonte Green to come in and submit a compelling case to be the Bulls’ starting power forward this season. I expect we’ll see the coaching staff experiment with a variety of rotations this season before finally settling on one in particular, but I would be surprised if Green did not start in at least a handful of games.
Green averaged the second most points per game and posted by far the highest field goal percentage of any Bull in preseason play, but whether or not he can continue to be an impactful two-way forward when the games actually count is still up in the air for now.
Minutes at the four are in a state of flux for the Chicago Bulls after a surprising preseason performance from Javonte Green.
Loser: Marko Simonovic
Many people probably expected to see Patrick Williams here in this category, especially after Green was anointed a ‘winner’. I think that couldn’t be further from the truth, however, as a change in roles may be just what Williams needed to realize his full potential. A 22 point, 5 rebound, and 5 assist explosion from Pat in Chicago’s final preseason contest against Milwaukee certainly supports that notion.
Instead, I’d like to focus in on Marko Simonovic here. After a promising stint in the Las Vegas Summer League, many fans had hoped he could impact the rotation as soon as this season. But with the emergence of Drummond and Nikola Vucevic looking more like his All-Star self, there will be virtually no minutes available for Marko at the five.
Even if he is capable of slotting in at power forward (which remains to be seen), Javonte has simply played too well to not be a featured player moving forward and Williams will chew up every single minute of development time he can get his hands on. That leaves Marko the odd man out no matter where you put him.