Ranking the 9 Worst Bulls starters of the Zach LaVine era

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Garrett Temple, Chicago Bulls (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

6. Tomas Satoransky

Speaking of guards the Bulls made a mistake in trading for, how about we throw Tomas Satoransky into the mix here? Acquired from the Wizards for a pair of second-round picks — one of which would become the very promising big man Christian Koloko — Sato started in 80 games for the Bulls across two seasons and averaged a meager 8.9 points and 5.1 assists per game. Within one year of leaving the Bulls, he’d already be on his way out of the league and back to Europe.

Trading for Satoransky always felt like a move designed to keep the Bulls in a middling state in an effort to preserve the front office’s jobs, so I’m glad the experiment came to an end relatively quickly. I thought Chicago actually made out like bandits we they traded Satoransky with the next player on this list in a sign-and-trade for Lonzo Ball, but as we’ve now seen, even that has ended in disaster.

The Bulls won’t be remembering this veteran duo fondly any time soon.

5. Garrett Temple

If we’re discussing NBA legacies, Garrett Temple obviously eclipses the aforementioned Satoransky. He hasn’t earned a spot in this league for 13 seasons for no reason, after all. But if we’re strictly talking about their tenures in Chicago, Temple takes a slide here to be named the fifth-worst starter of the Zach LaVine era.

Temple played 56 games for Chicago in the 2020-21, 25 of which he started in. He averaged a meager 7.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, while also not being the three-point threat he was advertised as, knocking down just 33.5% of his long-range attempts. Temple’s poor play would see his time in the Windy City cut short, as he was also included in the trade for Lonzo Ball.

Unlike Satoransky, however, Temple would secure his role as a valued role player for the Pelicans. After serving two years for New Orleans, Temple is preparing to embark on his 14th year in the league with the Raptors this year. If we’re lucky, maybe he’ll even play heavy minutes when the Bulls take on Toronto this season.

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