Ranking the 13 Worst Bulls starters of the Derrick Rose era

2. Tony Snell (2015-16)

Tony Snell. Poor Tony Snell. Not many NBA players have been subject to as much ridicule as Snell, especially not relatively unknown role players. After being drafted by the Bulls 20th overall in 2013, Snell eventually fought his way into the starting lineup for the 2015-16 season. Unfortunately, the results were less than savory, as Snell averaged just 5.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game while shooting an atrocious 37.2% from the field.

Snell posted a -4.0 BPM that year and was promptly kicked to the curb in a trade to Milwaukee for another project gone wrong in Michael Carter-Williams. The worst was yet to come for Snell, however, as he’d go on to submit one of the most laughably bad performances in NBA history, providing meme-makers and internet jokesters fuel that has lasted nearly a decade now.

Still, Snell went on to play in the NBA for 9 seasons and garnered over $50 million in earnings, so who’s really laughing?

These two players were the biggest lowlights in an otherwise great era of Chicago Bulls basketball.

1. Keith Bogans (2010-11)

Here we arrive, at the top spot where we find none other than Keith Bogans. 2010-11 was a generation-defining season as the Bulls raced out to a 62-20 record, won the Eastern Conference, and Derrick Rose laid claim to the MVP award in just his third season. Things were looking great for the Bulls, but little did we know, that this would be the last opportunity for this core to capitalize and make a potential Finals run.

This roster was absolutely stacked with talent. Rose, Deng, Noah, and Boozer led the charge with Taj Gibson, Ronnie Brewer, Korver, and Watson off the bench. This team had one weakness at starting shooting guard, and Bogans proved to be such a tremendous net negative that it pulled an otherwise perfectly constructed roster down with it.

Despite starting in all 82 games that year, Bogans averaged an embarrassing 4.4 points and 1.8 rebounds, while only converting on 40.4% of his field goal attempts. The Bulls were 3.1 points better per 100 possessions when the bench came in to replace Bogans, and it was hard to pinpoint any area of the game he positively impacted.

In a crucial Conference Finals matchup against the Heat, Bogans averaged 4.6 points on an even worse 34.8% shooting clip. Rose received much of the blame for his inefficiency in this series, but I can’t escape the fact that Bogans performed at even a league-average level, Derrick wouldn’t have had to shoulder all of the offensive load. That Chicago team was absolutely talented enough to go all the way, but in the end, Bogans proved to be the worst Bulls starter of the Derrick Rose era.