Chicago Bulls: Naming Satoransky starting PG was a good call

The Chicago Bulls set the final piece of their starting five on Wednesday. Coach Jim Boylen announced point guard Tomas Satoransky won the job over Kris Dunn. Here’s why this is the right move.

The Chicago Bulls are confident about the upcoming season. There are some young, talented players on the roster. For the first time in a long time, the team seems to be playing smarter basketball (at least in the preseason).

On Wednesday, the team confirmed the final piece of their starting lineup as coach Jim Boylen announced that point guard Tomas Satoransky would start over Kris Dunn and first-round pick Coby White.

It wasn’t that surprising of a move, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction for this team. Satoransky was acquired over the summer from the Washington Wizards in exchange for draft picks. Satoransky also signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the Bulls.

At the time of the trade, the acquisition of Satoranksy was seen as a move to possibly push Dunn. It was no secret last season that the Bulls front office and Dunn had their differences. Executive John Paxson even called out Dunn and said his position needed an upgrade.

Dunn is now entering the final year of his rookie contract. There were trade rumors around him last year, but his play wasn’t good enough to raise his value to the point the Bulls wanted. He’ll start the season leading the team’s second unit, but for how long?

Dunn will certainly be floated in a trade offer somewhere this season, but the Bulls may not pull the trigger unless they can get value in return. Unfortunately, I don’t know how much Dunn can raise his stock coming off the bench.

This is a dilemma because the team needs Dunn to play to improve his trade value, but he’s clearly not good enough to start. This is a team looking to take a step forward this year after a severely disappointing 2018-2019 season. Dunn may not be part of that next step.

Sotaransky will start alongside shooting guard Zach LaVine, small forward Otto Porter Jr. (who had good chemistry with Sotaransky in Washington), power forward Lauri Markkanen, and center Wendell Carter Jr.

It’s a good, young lineup that battled injuries in the past couple of seasons. They could surprise a lot of people this season if they stay healthy and improve on defense. This team seems primed to improve, but you just never know in this new-look NBA.

As much as I’ve praised Dunn in the past, I think his time with the Bulls may be nearing an end. Sotaransky seems to be the team’s plan for the near future. Rookie Coby White deserves some of the minutes Dunn will eat up coming off the bench.

It’s unclear just how many minutes Dunn will get initially as the bench PG ahead of White. If the opportunity presents itself and another team is desperate for a PG due to injury, the Bulls need to offer Dunn quickly.

White looked good so far this preseason, and I’m more hopeful about his future prospects than I am about Dunn’s. Even if the Bulls can’t get great value, it may be a case of addition by subtraction in trading Dunn.

The NBA season starts in less than a week, and I’ll be closely watching the Bulls PG situation. I don’t see Dunn being thrilled about coming off the bench, but who knows? It’s going to be a fun campaign this year as we all hope for the Bulls to ascend in the standings.