8. Justin Holiday
Speaking of players involved in the Derrick Rose trade, Justin Holiday was also sent packing to The Big Apple in the package for Lopez. 13 months later, he’d pull a fast one and return to the Bulls as a free agent. Holiday leaped up to a career-high of 13.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, suggesting he was a much-improved player.
That is, of course, until you factor in his horrid 37.1% shooting from the field. With virtually no established talent on the roster, Holiday was given the green light to chuck up as many shots as he wanted — most of which did not end up going in. Somehow, Chicago was able to dump Holiday off on the Grizzlies for two second-round picks, which resulted in another two blunders by drafting Daniel Gafford (who the Bulls traded away), and Marko Simonovic (who was selected before players like Kenyon Martin Jr., Paul Reed, and Jordan Nwora).
Justin Holiday and Kris Dunn helped kickstart the Bulls’ rebuild with their poor play.
7. Kris Dunn
I’d like to preface this by saying I’m probably higher on Kris Dunn than most Bulls fans probably would (or should) be, his defensive intensity and ability to rise to the moment reminded were distinct qualities of the early 2010s Bulls teams I missed so much. That being said, when you’re drafted fifth overall and the Bulls trade arguably the best player they’ve had since Michael Jordan to acquire you, there’s going to be high expectations on your shoulders.
High expectations that Dunn would most certainly not meet. Dunn averaged 10.7 points and 5.1 assists per game in three seasons with Chicago, failing to become that starting point guard we desperately wanted him to be. Dunn started in 119 games with the Bulls in those three seasons, and has started in a total of 6 games in the three years since. As much as I enjoyed having Dunn on the team, he was nothing short of a draft bust.