1. Fact or Fiction: Signing Mike Dunleavy Jr. solves the teams lack of outside shooting.
Avi Saini: Faction. Dunleavy Jr. is a strong shooter that opposing defenses will have to constantly account for as he shot 44.9%, 44.6%, and 47.8% in spot up, off screen, and transition situations, respectively, last season. While he will help the Bulls space the floor better, I dont think he necessarily solves the problem on his own. Unless Tom Thibodeau has lost his mind, Dunleavy wont be playing 48 minutes per game which means the Bulls will still have outside shooting woes when hes on the bench. Ultimately, Chicagos three-point shooting issues will only be solved if other players, namely Kirk Hinrich and Jimmy Butler, can step up to the task of knocking down three-point shots while Dunleavy is resting. Last year, both Hinrich and Butler shot a respectable 39.0% and 38.1%, respectively, from beyond the arc. If both can maintain that level of shooting or improve, something I hope at least Butler can do, then Chicagos floor spacing issue may be solved.
Braedan Ritter: Fiction. I wouldnt go so far as to say that Mike Dunleavy Jr. fixes the Bulls three-point shooting issue, but he definitely helps it. Dunleavy, who shot 42.8 percent from three last season, hit at a better rate than anyone on the Bulls did. MDJ will likely fill the role of Marco Belinelli, who shot 35.7 from deep; so thats an improvement right off the bat. But the loss of Nate Robinson (.405) will hurt. If Luol Deng can rebound from his worst percentage (.322) since 2007-2008, Jimmy Butler can continue to improve as he did during the season and Derrick Rose comes back with an improved shot, I can see the Bulls being slightly better off from deep. However teams will probably still pack the paint and force Chicago to win from the outside.
Matt McHale: Fiction. Dunleavys shooting acumen is well-documented and hes easily the teams best pure three-point specialist since Kyle Korver was shipped out last summer. So thats one guy on the team who can knock down threeswhich isnt going to cut it for a team with championship aspirations. Lets take last seasons finalists for instance. The Miami Heat had five players shoot 40 percent or better from beyond the arc and ranked second overall in three-point accuracy (39.6 percent). The Spurs had four players hit 40 percent or better and ranked fourth in three-point percentage (37.6). This is no coincidence.
Three-point shooting is critical in todays NBA. And while Dunleavy will provide much-needed outside shooting range off the bench, wheres it going to come from when hes sitting, which will be most the time? The Bulls projected starting lineup has a dearth of long-range shooters. Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah dont shoot threes. Derrick Rose is a career 31 percent three-point shooter who has never hit better than 33 percent of this treys. Luol Deng shot near a career-worst (32.2 percent) last season. Jimmy Butler shot a respectable 38.1 percent on threes and got progressively better as the season progressedbut theres no telling yet whether that will continue.
Unless something changes, the Bulls outside shooting isnt likely to improve much from last season, regardless of the Dunleavy signing.
