Chicago Bulls: Denzel Valentine has his work cut out for him in 2018-19

Chicago Bulls forward/guard, Denzel Valentine, could have a difficult time earning significant playing time next season with the new additions to the roster.

The Chicago Bulls drafted Denzel Valentine with the 14th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Coming off a senior campaign at Michigan State in which he compiled averages of 19.2 points, 7.8 assists and 7.5 boards per outing, adding a player with do-it-all potential to the mix made perfect sense.

Unfortunately, Valentine didn’t have the kind of rookie season he and the Bulls were hoping for. Thanks to multiple ankle injuries, Valentine averaged 5.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per outing in just 57 appearances.

In Year 2, without the likes of Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade in the mix, Valentine had a nice bounce-back season. He doubled both his scoring and rebounding numbers while becoming a capable facilitator as well.

Not only that, but he shot 38.6 percent from beyond the arc in 77 games (including 37 starts), which was the third-best mark on the team behind Nikola Mirotic and Sean Kilpatrick. After making such a jump, it would have reasonable to think that Valentine would be in line for a larger role heading into his third NBA season.

This sentiment would have been cemented by the fact that Valentine’s number in 37 starts (10.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per outing on shooting splits of .438/.413/.708) favorably compare to his production as a reserve (9.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists on slash lines of .398/.360/.778).

Did the Bulls feel the same way? Well, not exactly.

Aside from the fact that Valentine was shut down the last few games of the season, his production improved across the board. In spite of this, the Bulls haven’t exactly made life easy for Valentine during the offseason.

For starters, they selected Boise State wing Chandler Hutchison with the No. 22 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. As was the case with Valentine, Hutchison is coming off a respectable senior campaign in which he averaged 20.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest.

Hutchison shot 47.5 percent from the field and 35.9 percent from beyond the arc. With so much potential versatility, the Bulls will want to ensure he gets some playing time next year, right?

If that wasn’t enough, the Bulls followed that up by signing Chicago native Jabari Parker to a two-year, $40 million deal (with a team option on the second year), which automatically puts him at the 3-spot in the starting lineup. So if Valentine hopes to see minutes at the small forward spot, he will have to compete for minutes with Parker, Hutchison and Justin Holiday, depending on how Fred Hoiberg decides he wants to utilize different lineups.

In terms of getting significant time at the shooting guard spot, well, that will prove to be a difficult task as well. Zach LaVine – who the Bulls re-signed to a four-year, $78 million deal — will get a majority of the minutes as the starter.

Furthermore, the Bulls signed Antonio Blakeney to a two-year deal and claimed Antonius Cleveland off waivers from the Atlanta Hawks. Needless to say, it is quite possible that these two players will eat up some of the minutes at this position as well. With the newly-created logjam at both spots, Valentine’s role with the Bulls appears to be uncertain at best.

"“You can’t worry about the franchise’s plans … or what people want you to do,” Valentine told the Chicago Sun-Times. “You just got to do your job as far as making sure I’m ready to play. And when I’m in the game, I’m playing the best I can of my abilities.“Making the right plays, shooting the right shots, playing defense, and if people don’t like it, the team doesn’t like it, then whatever. But as long as you can say that you competed and played your best, that’s all that matters in my eyes.”"

Based on the tone of his comments, Valentine doesn’t sound thrilled about the possibility of being the forgotten man in the rotation. To be honest, I don’t blame him, based on how well he played last season.

Looking at the situation from the other side, though, this could push Valentine to elevate his game to an even higher level next season. Whether he has another gear to reach is not certain at this point. What we do know is that training camp will be very competitive, considering the number of players vying for minutes at multiple positions.