5. Denzel Valentine, SG/SF — No. 14 Pick, Chicago Bulls
Obviously Denzel Valentine out of Michigan State isn’t going to have the biggest role on the Chicago Bulls and he’s not even going to have the biggest role out of the two wing players if he were int he starting lineup as Jimmy Butler is still a person that exists and plays for the Bulls. However, Valentine showed throughout his college career that he’s the type of player with the talent to carve out a role right away in Chicago and have his proverbial voice be heard.
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Valentine was one of the most complete college basketball players in the country in his final year with Michigan State. He was a leader for the Spartans as a scorer, facilitator, rebounder, and even defender. He’s simply the utility player that you love to have on your basketball team, but he’s a utility player with a skill level to do a lot of things better than acceptable and actually do them well. That should serve him well as he comes into Chicago.
Also working in favor of the Bulls rookie is of course the fact that he’s matured over his full stay at Michigan State. We’ve seen in recent history that relatively highly drafted players that spent long careers at the college level have a good chance of making noise right away at the expense of some upside. That in addition to everything else bodes well for Valentine.
Next: No. 4 Brandon Ingram