Bulls sign Garrett Temple and Denzel Valentine in Free Agency
The Bulls have reportedly offered one-year deals to both Garrett Temple and Denzel Valentine according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania for $5 million and $4.7 million, respectively.
Both deals were announced within hours after the free agency period opening. Temple is a solid 6-foot-5, 34-year-old veteran coming from the Brooklyn Nets, where he had the best season of his career stats wise, averaging 10.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 27.9 minutes a game as a role player. Temple is known for his nagging defense and ability to shoot from deep. Expect him to possibly play solid minutes in the rotation. He is a player that once he knows his role he will play it well.
To no surprise, Valentine was extended a one-year offer as his minutes and games played were limited without an expressed reason behind the former coach of the Bulls last season.
The 6-foot-4 former Michigan State small forward only played in 36 games the previous season as it was difficult for him to get into a rhythm and saw his minutes drop to only 13.6 minutes a game but still managed to average close to 7 points a game on nearly 34 percent 3-point shooting. This is significantly down from his career best season before his ankle injury (2017–2018) with the Bulls where he averaged 10.2 points per game on 27.2 minutes and a 38.6 percent from 3.
The Bulls’ bench was exposed last season as it appeared to be of G-League level talent, constantly giving up big leads and going on long scoring droughts. Both Temple and Valentine clearly are on short leashes this season and expect them each to fight for minutes in the rotation as the Bulls just drafted Patrick Williams with the fourth overall pick and are solidifying their bench for next season with a focus on creating flexibility to have cap space for the 2021–22 free agency market.
“We’re going to be really picky in free agency,” Bulls vice president Artūras Karnišovas said Wednesday after the draft. Other than that, he didn’t give any more details other than that the Bulls would be seeking shooting in an interview with WSCR-AM 670 early Thursday. So these signings must be what Karnišovas is referring to, so I wouldn’t expect too much from here.
