NEWSLETTER
At the end of the 2018-19 season, the Chicago Bulls desperately needed a point guard. Fast forward almost four months later, and the team is now trying to keep the pot from boiling over.
Soon enough, the Bulls will head into training camp with all of Tomas Satoransky, Coby White, Kris Dunn, Ryan Arcidiacono and Shaquille Harrison on the roster. Relative to last season, sure, it’s nice seeing some depth at the position, but when you’ve got this many guards sitting on your bench, time on the court can quickly become an issue.
After the re-signing of both Ryan Arcidiacono and Shaquille Harrison, it felt almost certain that Kris Dunn would soon be on a plane out of Chicago (the rumors were there, too). However, here we sit on August 9th, with most NBA transactions behind us, and Dunn is still sporting the Bulls jersey (metaphorically speaking… I’m assuming he doesn’t just wear it all the time).
While a move with Dunn is still possible, it just doesn’t feel likely. But don’t just take my word for it, the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson discussed the subject at length on Tony Gill’s most recent No Zone’s podcast.
“Look, it’s been pretty clear that both Kris and the front office would like to find Kris a new home,” Johnson said. “I’m guessing as we get closer to training camp here, and I think we’re about seven weeks out, that the options are dwindling for that to happen. At this point, I’m guessing he’s gonna show up to training camp. If he’s on the Bulls past the February trade deadline, color me surprised.”
The good news: we should expect Dunn to be off this roster sometime next season, which should help clean up this cluttered backcourt. The bad news: we have no clear idea on when this will be.
Teams will most likely not plan on making any trades (let alone for a rotational point guard) until enough time passes for coaching staffs to really feel out their teams. On top of that, the Bulls will most likely want a half-decent return for a former lottery pick, so you could see more minutes early-on for Dunn as a showcase. You know, the old, “I have something you don’t have” trick.
I’m not necessarily saying Dunn will be starting games this upcoming season, because I still think that’s Satoransky’s battle to lose, but what I am driving too is that more minutes for Dunn means fewer for White.
I’ve advocated for it before, but White should be getting around 20-minutes per game even in the early parts of this season. I understand many are not high on him to have a “breakout campaign,” and nor am I, but 20-minutes per game puts him as the primary back-up and provides everyone with a good look at the Bulls future. In short, Chicago needs to showcase their No. 7-overall draft pick more than their trade-bait former-starter.
White having impact-minutes in the game is important for the team’s overall development. If the plan is for this squad to finally begin a more modern-style of basketball (which it is), then White’s transitional skills and quick-play-style is a necessary component on the court.
Telling yourself White can get his minutes with a healthy Dunn on this roster is false logic. Dunn isn’t Cristiano Felicio, if you have him, you still have to play him. With that in mind, along with the idea of wanting to build Dunn’s stock, the Bulls are just sitting in point guard limbo.
The Bulls’ future at the position is Coby White and their bridge to get there is Tomas Satoransky. Kris Dunn, on the other hand, he’s the pesky troll making you solve some silly riddle.
