Chicago Bulls: Is Tony Snell Approaching Bust Status?

Chicago Bulls third-year forward Tony Snell is slowly falling out of the rotation.

For the third consecutive season, Chicago Bulls forward Tony Snell has not played with the kind of consistency the organization had hoped for when they selected him with the 20th pick in the 2013 draft. The good news is Snell is capable of going out and having good performances.

The problem is following those good performances, he often goes for stretches where he has little or no impact. One example of this assertion occurred in December. After posting a season-high 22 points against the Toronto Raptors, Snell scored a total 20 points over the next four games.

Another example that supports this assertion took place in mid-January. Following a solid outing against the Milwaukee Bucks – a game in which he scored 17 points on an efficient 7-for-11 shooting from the field — Snell recorded a total of 18 points over the next seven contests.

Does anyone see a trend here?

To bring my point home even further, Snell scored 16 points and grabbed four rebounds against the Washington Wizards on Feb. 24. Since that outing, he has scored a combined 14 points over his last five games.

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Earlier in the season, first-year coach Fred Hoiberg opted to give more minutes to Doug McDermott when Mike Dunleavy was working his way back from offseason back surgery. This move proved to be a wise one because, in 32 appearances as a starter, Snell averaged just 4.9 points per contest on 33 percent shooting, including a 31.5 percent effort from beyond the arc.

Meanwhile, McDermott averaged 11.5 points per game on 55 percent shooting from the field and 53 percent from distance during his stint as a starter. While Snell’s minutes-per-game average of 20.5 is slightly higher than the 19.6 from 2014-15, his playing time is on the decline as well.

In December, Snell averaged 22.7 minutes per game. But since that time, his playing time decreased to 19.3 and 18.9 minutes respectively in January and February, and he is currently averaging just 14.7 minutes per contest in March.

To make matters worse, with both Derrick Rose (groin) and Jimmy Butler (knee) out of the lineup, Hoiberg did not go with Snell to fill either position. Instead, he opted to go with Justin Holiday, who appeared in just 26 games for the Atlanta Hawks before coming to Chicago as part of the Kirk Hinrich deal.

The significance of that decision is that Holiday averaged just 2.6 points and 10.1 minutes per contest in 26 games for the Hawks this season.

"“Tony will get his opportunities,’’ Hoiberg said, via the Chicago Tribune. “There’s no doubt about it. Tony has been out of the lineup, and gone back in and played his way back into the lineup. With the way we are right now as far as bodies, Tony will most likely get opportunities.’’"

Despite those comments, the fact that Hoiberg has not played Snell in three of the last four games speaks volumes to say the least.

Next: Chicago Bulls: The Season Of Constant Limbo

Furthermore, if Snell hasn’t been part of the rotation with injuries to key players, what are the chances that this trend will change once Rose and Butler are healthy again?

I think we all know the answer to that one.

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Tony Snell: Is Bulls Forward Approaching Bust Status?

By James D. Tillman III | Mar 13, 2016

Chicago Bulls third-year forward Tony Snell is slowly falling out of the rotation.