3 early Chicago Bulls takeaways from 2019-20 NBA season
3. Denzel Valentine is the odd man out
The Chicago Bulls selected Denzel Valentine with the No. 14 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. After struggling during his rookie campaign, he bounced back in 2017-18, with averages of 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in 27.2 minutes per contest. He also knocked down 38.6 percent of his attempts from 3-point range.
Denzel Valentine doubled his averages in nearly every major statistical category this season. Let's take a look at some of his best highlights: pic.twitter.com/8hZbTL9koe
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) May 10, 2018
Unfortunately, that may have been the beginning of the end for Valentine. You see, despite playing well during his second NBA season, the Bulls selected Chandler Hutchison in the 2018 NBA Draft and they acquired Otto Porter Jr. via a trade with the Washington Wizards prior to the 2019 trade deadline.
Meanwhile, Valentine was forced to miss all of last season following ankle surgery. While he did get some playing time during Chicago’s first three preseason games, that was more of an aberration, as Jim Boylen played him just eight minutes in each of the last two preseason outings.
The only action Valentine has seen in the regular season was a five-minute stint in the blowout loss to the Raptors on Oct. 26.
"‘‘It’s very difficult because you never know what’s going to happen, but it’s the business, it’s the game,’’ Valentine told the Chicago Sun-Times. ‘‘I’ve just gotta do what I’ve gotta do, you know? Be a great teammate, be healthy and just try and get my work in whenever I can.’’"
So far, Boylen has been using a 10-man rotation and has spoken about the difficulty of trying to play 12 guys. In other words, barring any major injuries to the players ahead of him in the rotation, Valentine’s days in a Bulls uniform may be numbered.