Chicago Bulls: 3 players whose future with the team is doomed

1. Denzel Valentine

As a former standout at Michigan State, there were certainly some higher hopes for Denzel Valentine. Through his first four seasons, injuries have played a big part of his career. Valentine missed the entire 2018-2019 season due to injury, and thus has only seen the court in three of his first four years.

When healthy, he’s been a decent rotational player. He actually isn’t a bad player, necessarily. Last year, if you look at his per-36-minute averages, he looks like a strong contributor: 18.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

But, Valentine might be a guy who would benefit from a fresh start. He isn’t a particularly efficient scorer, nor is his defense something the Bulls can rely on game-in and game-out (defensive rating of 109 last year, per Sports Reference).

There is reason to believe that the Bulls will completely revamp the wing position over the next couple of years. With Otto Porter Jr. likely opting into the last year of his contract, they’ll have only one more season with him. Waving goodbye to Porter and Valentine should bring hope to adding a bigger and more capable name to the small forward spot.

Valentine’s qualifying offer this offseason is roughly $4.7 million (per Hoopshype) and it’s likely the Bulls would give him one more shot. But, do not be surprised if he is gone by the start of next season.