If the Chicago Bulls miraculously find a trade for Zach LaVine this summer, they'll still be entering training camp with an unhealthy surplus of guards.
It's reasonable to assume that Bulls head coach Billy Donovan will roll out a starting backcourt of Josh Giddey and Coby White in October.
Why else would Chicago have given up such an important asset in Alex Caruso for Giddey if it felt that Giddey was anything less than a starter?
White -- who averaged 19.1 points last season in 36.5 minutes per game -- will surely log similar usage for Donovan in 2024-25, primarily as an off-guard alongside Giddey but also as a point guard when Giddey sits.
Ayo Dosunmu and Lonzo Ball figure to be Chicago's backup backcourt tandem, but one of them is likely to see fewer minutes than deserved, given Giddey's and White's collective workload.
Dosunmu has to be in front of Ball on the depth chart to start training camp for two reasons. First of all, Ball needs to prove he is healthy enough again to compete at the NBA level.
Secondly, Dosunmu proved last season that he is a legitimate rotational guard in this league. He was ridiculously efficient in the opportunities that Donovan gave him, shooting 50.1 percent from the field and 40.3 percent from three in 29.1 minutes per game across 76 games.
Dosunmu is good enough to compete for a rotational spot on most NBA teams, which surely means he should play a prominent role in the rebuilding Bulls' rotation.
If Ball is back to being Ball again, things begin to get a bit crowded in the Bulls' backcourt.
Then there's 21-year-old shooting guard Dalen Terry, whose development and minutes are greatly endangered by the above situation. Donovan let Terry loose for 11.5 minutes per game last year to foster his growth, but Terry will be lucky to even get into games this season if Ball is rehabilitated successfully.
28-year-old point guard Jevon Carter is still on the Bulls, too, which makes him an expensive end-of-the-bench guard at $6.5M this season for Chicago.
Between managing minutes for Giddey, White, Dosunmu, Ball, and Terry, imagine the playing time crisis that Donovan faces if Chicago is unable to move LaVine, which is looking like a real possibility.
Chicago could be rolling out a lot of three-guard lineups next season, which actually could work given that Giddey (6-foot-8), Dosunmu (6-foot-5), and Terry (6-foot-7) are all wing-capable defensively.
Even so, it's likely that at least one of the Bulls' talented guards is going to end up unhappy with his opportunities this season, which could be poisonous for Donovan's young locker room.
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