Chicago Bulls analysis: Re-evaluating the pre-trade deadline move
By Paul Steeno
The Good
The good news is the 27-year-old Holiday has exceeded expectations in terms of his on-court performance and has been a slight upgrade to Kirk Hinrich.
In 24 games with the Bulls, Holiday has averaged 5.3 points, collected 2.3 rebounds and dished out 1.4 assists in 17.7 minutes per game. His real value comes at the defensive end. The 6-6 shooting guard has good length and can guard multiple positions making him a real asset as a perimeter defender.
In contrast, Hinrich has struggled to crack the Atlanta Hawks rotation. He has only played in nine games since getting traded and has averaged 0.6 points on 18.2 percent shooting from the field. The 35-year-old point guard has struggled to stay in front of younger, quicker point guards as he has gotten older and Holiday definitely presents an upgrade defensively.
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In 35 games with the Bulls this season, Hinrich’s numbers were slightly worse than Holidays. In 15.9 minutes per game, he averaged 3.8 points on 39.8 percent from the field. He did have a good feel for the offense and ran it more efficiently than a number of other point guards on the roster. The Bulls miss his veteran instincts and familiarity with his teammates most of all.
Player efficiency rating statistics has Holiday at a 9.2 PER during his time with the Bulls. Hinrich accumulated a 7.3 PER this season with Chicago.
The Bulls did upgrade its roster at the deadline, although the advantage of Holiday over Hinrich wasn’t overly significant in the grand scheme of the 2015-2016 season.
Next: The Bad