Now that the modern NBA prioritizes shooting first and foremost, we’ve seen a slow but steady change to the fabric of the game of basketball itself. Floor spacing is vital, strategies and schemes employed by teams have changed drastically, and each year’s draft seems to be filled with prospects that have higher shooting percentages than the win percentage of the perennially lottery-bound Chicago Bulls.
Self-deprecating jokes aside, the Bulls have had a fair few of excellent shooters on their rosters throughout the decades as well. This got me thinking, what would a top 10 list of the greatest sharpshooters in Chicago Bull history even look like?
For once, this would be a list that won’t be topped by the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Derrick Rose, which was more than enough to pique my interest. The primary criteria I used to put this list together was the raw amount of threes made per game, shooting percentages from deep, and the overall impact a shooter had whenever they were on the court.
If this one particular skill is enough to make you millions in the NBA, let’s look through which Bulls players did it better than anyone else in franchise history.
The 10 best sharpshooters in Chicago Bulls history starts off with overseas talents Andres Nocioni and Nikola Mirotic.
10. Andres Nocioni
Andres Nocioni was an important piece of the Bulls during the late 2000s, and would just miss out on joining the young core that led Chicago back to prominence in the early 2010s. His shooting was invaluable for that team, averaging 1.1 threes made per game at a 36.7% clip across four and a half seasons with the Bulls.
What’s most impressive, however, is those numbers leap up 1.4 threes per game at 37.7% if you factor out a shaky rookie season from the undrafted Argentinian. Nocioni may not have gotten to experience the most competitive eras of Chicago basketball, but he did do more than enough to land on this list of the greatest shooters in Bulls history.
9. Nikola Mirotic
Most Bulls fans might remember Nikola Mirotic’s time in Chicago for all the wrong reasons, but it can’t be forgotten just how effective he was when he was on his game here. Mirotic averaged 1.8 threes per game in three and a half seasons with the Bulls, good for the fifth-highest average in franchise history. He also knocked them down at a very respectable 36.1% rate, keeping the Bulls in a place where they were too good to tank, but not quite good enough to make a run for the postseason.
8. Coby White
We have our first current member of the Bulls on our list here with Coby White, but he certainly won’t be the last. While Coby has continued to hone the other areas of his game since entering his league, he was drafted seventh overall in 2019 for one reason in particular: he’s an absolute flamethrower on offense.
White has converted 36.7% of his threes while making the highest sample size we’ve seen yet at 2.1 makes per game. This high sample size just makes his efficiency all the more impressive, as White is currently third all-time on Chicago’s three-pointers made per game leaderboard. His sophomore season was the most impressive, where he knocked down 163 threes, the fourth most of any Bulls player and the eighth-best single-season performance in franchise history.
A pair of Bulls’ draft picks from the late 2010s became two of the greatest shooters in team history.
7. Lauri Markkanen
Although the Bulls traded away arguably their greatest prospect of the last 10 years in Lauri Markkanen after just four seasons, it was through no faults in his shooting ability. Markkanen has blossomed since leaving the Windy City, making this a move I’m sure every fan will regret for years to come.
If you had any doubts about Lauri’s shooting ability entering the league, he quickly put them to rest when he became the fastest player in NBA history to convert 100 three-pointers, accomplishing the feat in just the 41st game of the season. Markkanen made 2.2 threes at 36.6% efficiency with the Bulls — nearly identical to the aforementioned Coby White, but the fact he was a primary focus for opposing defenses rather than a complementary player gives Lauri the edge here.
6. Craig Hodges
If you don’t recall Craig Hodges’ time with the Bulls, I couldn’t exactly fault you for it. After all, the last time he suited up in the red and white was more than 30 years ago. Signing with the Bulls in 1989, Hodges would go on to be an important piece of Chicago’s first two championship runs with Michael Jordan before his NBA career ultimately came to a close.
In nearly four seasons with the Bulls, Hodges was good for one three-pointer per game and knocked them down at a scorching hot 42.5% clip. In that era of basketball, this was virtually unheard of. I have very little doubt Hodges would have been an elite shooter and would have certainly made quite a bit of money if he played in today’s more perimeter-centric era of basketball. With two rings to his name and a decade of NBA experience under his belt, however, I doubt Hodges is too hung up on the subject.
Top-tier shooting ability helped Craig Hodges and Kirk Hinrich enjoy very long NBA careers.
5. Kirk Hinrich
Kirk Hinrich was a beloved Chicago Bulls staple in two different decades across two tenures with the team. Drafted 7th overall in 2003, Hinrich was the first of many pieces that would help the Bulls slowly climb out of the post-Jordan slump it had been in for so many years.
Captain Kirk was about as well-rounded of a player it gets, but his shooting was particularly impressive. Hinrich swished 1.4 threes per game at a rate of 37.6% across 748 games with the team. His veteran years do bring these averages down a bit, however, as he actually averaged 1.6 threes made at 37.9% during his first six-year long stint in Chicago. Hinrich currently holds the record for most threes made in franchise history with 1049, but the next entry on this list just might soon surpass him.
4. Zach LaVine
I promised you earlier that we weren’t done seeing current members of the Chicago Bulls on this list, as we arrive to the fourth spot here with Zach LaVine. When it comes to raw production, nobody eclipses LaVine, as he has maintained by far the highest average threes made per game in Bulls history at 2.7 — with Markkanen as the next closest player at 2.2.
Unlike other shot chuckers that have previously played for Chicago (Jamal Crawford ring a bell?), what’s impressive to me is that LaVine has maintained this high volume while still shooting an impressive 38.6% from beyond the arc. It’s very rare for a player to not suffer a big hit in efficiency when taking this many shots, but the fact Zach has managed to do so explains why he’s on track to surpass Hinrich for the franchise record by the end of next season.
Zach LaVine and Ben Gordon are two of the most dynamic scorers to ever wear a Chicago Bulls uniform.
3. Ben Gordon
If today’s perimeter-oriented brand of basketball has helped shooters and slashers like LaVine to thrive and make hundreds of millions, he has players like Ben Gordon to thank for it. Drafted third overall in 2004, Gordon would leave a positive imprint on the memories of all Bulls fans with his electric play, despite only playing in Chicago for five seasons.
Although playing big and fast was still the most popular strategy in the 2000s, Gordon showed just what was possible when a player could get scorching hot from deep. He made 1.9 threes per game at an absolutely ridiculous 41.5% clip over those five years, a performance so strong that it would unfortunately coax the Pistons to offer Gordon a deal far more lucrative than Chicago was willing to match. It was difficult for me to leave Gordon out of the top two here, but he still has his placed secured amongst the greatest shooters in Chicago Bulls history.
2. Kyle Korver
When it comes to raw shooting ability, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone more lethal from long-range than Kyle Korver. In fact, if you were to host a hypothetical three-point contest among every player in Chicago Bulls history, I have to say Korver would probably be the man I place my bet on.
Unlike other players on this list, Korver’s time in Chicago was cut rather short, only playing two seasons in the Windy City. Korver averaged 1.6 threes off the bench for the Bulls from 2010-2012, and he hit converted them at an incredible rate of 42.5%. Believe it or not, this was actually substandard for Korver at this time, as he led the league in three-point percentage four times and averaged 45.2% from deep between the years 2009 and 2017.
Steve Kerr and Kyle Korver set the gold standard for all sharpshooters to come.
1. Steve Kerr
If Hodges were to thrive in this era of basketball, I can only imagine the damage Steve Kerr would do if encouraged to jack it up at every given opportunity. Back in the 90s, Kerr’s job was to defer to MJ and be available for kickouts; in today’s NBA, however, his floor-spacing ability would be used to its full potential.
Kerr was as good as it gets from beyond the arc in his five seasons with the Bulls. He made 1.1 threes per game at an absolutely unbelievable 47.9% clip during this stretch, even leading the league in three-point percentage for the second time in his career in 1995. His efforts would earn him three rings with the Bulls (and later, another two with the Spurs), while also being enshrined forever by making one of the biggest shots in Chicago Bulls and NBA Finals history.
So when it comes to ranking the greatest sharpshooters in Chicago Bulls history, not even a player from this new era of three-point marksmen come out on top. Until someone does it as consistently and at as high of a level as Steve Kerr, he continues to reign supreme.