3 Bulls who benefit the most from Derrick Jones Jr.’s departure

1. Dalen Terry

If any player stands to benefit in a big way from Derrick Jones Jr. leaving in free agency, it’s absolutely Dalen Terry. After an unimpressive rookie season where he participated in less than half of the Bulls games and averaged just 5.6 minutes in the games he did play, the fans want to see more from Terry.

Now that Jones Jr. has left the rotation, the only forwards on the Bulls’ bench are Craig, Terry, and Julian Phillips. I highly doubt the rookie Phillips will see heavy minutes this year, which puts Terry in line for significant minutes on the depth chart. It will be crucial for Terry to play well in these moments, or else he’ll likely lose his big opportunity for big minutes to a guard like Ayo Dosunmu in a small ball lineup.

Dalen Terry could explode onto the scene for the Bulls if he’s given Derrick Jones Jr.’s former role.

He’ll have to earn that opportunity first, of course, as the Bulls prepare to make another run to compete in the Eastern Conference. With Ayo Dosunmu and Patrick Williams sitting this year’s Summer League out, all eyes were on Terry to make a big impression in Las Vegas. Dalen, however, struggled mightily to make the sort of big impression that could catapult him into a bigger role with the franchise fast.

Averaging 12.6 points and a team-high 4 fouls per game on a horrendous 33.8% shooting clip from the field, Dalen was overshadowed by other members of the roster like Javon Freeman-Liberty and Adama Sanogo. Still, it would be foolish to overreact to a few Summer League games. While he may not be a Jimmy Butler-esque surprise, that doesn’t mean Terry couldn’t still outperform expectations despite a slow start.