5 former players that have excelled since leaving the Chicago Bulls

4. Daniel Gafford

Daniel Gafford may be the least established player of the five mentioned in this article, but he has proven to be an excellent spark off the bench. The former second-round pick is a beast in the paint on both sides of the floor and has drastically outpaced all expectations most had for him entering the draft.

This season, he averaged 9 points per game and 5.6 rebounds with 1.3 blocks in just 20.6 minutes per game. He also had a 72.3% shooting percentage, which is ridiculous. Gafford is a tremendous lob threat, and this has led to an excellent highlight reel.

Daniel Gafford would be an excellent bench piece for any team in need of a physical big like the Chicago Bulls.

Gafford’s presence on the defensive end has been excellent as well, being a high-quality shot blocker.

This is something that the Chicago Bulls have lacked since acquiring Nikola Vucevic to be the starting center and take a more offensively-oriented approach. They tried to fill this void with Andre Drummond, as a paint presence who is a strong rebounder, but Drummond is not as good of a defender.

Gafford was an extremely cheap signing who could have been a top center off the bench for the Bulls, providing more lineup flexibility and a strong complement to Vucevic, who does not have the rim protection abilities that Gafford has. While Gafford may not be a star, he is a player that would have fit perfectly with the Bulls’ current lineup, and it is a shame that the team did not see this.