The Bulls’ Denzel Valentine might be better served elsewhere this year
The former lottery pick is getting playing time now, but when the Bulls return to full strength is he back to a DNP? If that’s the plan the Bulls should consider packaging him in a trade.
It was definitely Denzel Valentine’s latest “remember me?’’ moment.
Just under 14 minutes for the former lottery pick [14th overall] from the 2016 NBA Draft to not only remind his own organization that he can contribute to a rotation, but maybe more importantly, continue showing the rest of the league that ability.
That’s what minutes are for Valentine these days – tryouts.
Good and bad against Golden State in Friday’s loss.
There was 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting, including 3-for-4 from three-point range, as well as two assists and two rebounds. Then there was a second technical in the fourth quarter that not only got Valentine an early trip to the locker room, but gave the Warriors life with 7:50 left in the game and down four.
“It’s just two teams playing basketball and it got a little carried away,’’ Valentine said of the evening.
Earlier in the game, Valentine and Warriors forward Omari Spellman had a serious back and forth going on, with Spellman yelling to Valentine that he was going to “smack the [bleep] out of you.’’
It didn’t stop Valentine from continuing to chirp on his way to hitting two more threes with Spellman guarding him.
“You can look back to college, high school days, I always play with passion,’’ Valentine said. “You just haven’t seen it in a while.’’
So just like another afternoon on the playgrounds in Lansing, Mich., but also a really solid point by the 6-foot-6 forward. He hasn’t been seen in a while.
Valentine underwent season-ending foot surgery last fall that led to him missing the entire 2018-19 campaign, and unfortunately for him, allowed the Bulls to seemingly move on from him with the roster decisions they made.
In the last two years alone they’ve been sending that message to Valentine, drafting Chandler Hutchison in the 2018 draft, trading for Otto Porter Jr. last February, and then adding Thaddeus Young in the offseason. All forwards, and all players that jumped Valentine in the rotation while he was sidelined.
And that’s the knock on Valentine.
He’s a combo guard/forward, too small for all the taller wings in the league, and not fast enough to keep up with a lot of the guards on the defensive end. As one member of the Bulls described of him, “he’s a system guy.’’
No wonder he started the year out of the rotation, collecting DNPs [Did Not Play] Coach’s Decision.
But with Porter and Hutchison sidelined, and Young missing the Warriors loss for personal reasons, Valentine has been dusted off, and let loose with the second unit.
He’s averaged 13.7 minutes his last three games, put in 8.3 points, and more impressively, has shot 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) from three-point range.
Publicly, Valentine has also been saying all the right things when asked about his current situation, and took that high road again when asked if he deserved to stay in the rotation when the Bulls roster get healthy.
“That’s not up to me,’’ Valentine said. “I’m just going to do what I can do to help the team. Come in, play hard, play with passion, play on both sides of the ball.’’
The kind of response his team wants to hear, and potential future teams embrace. A key for Valentine.
The Bulls have to make a financial decision on Valentine before next season, and if there is a player to be traded this season, look for Valentine to be that perfect candidate, likely in a package.
But until that happens – if it happens – Valentine is focused on just making up for lost time.
“I literally live for basketball, so this is what I love to do,’’ Valentine said. “It was taken away from me for a year, so I’m playing with passion.’’