Player: Dalen Terry
Height: 6’7
Year: Sophomore
College: Arizona
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
Pick: 1st Round, 18th Overall by the Chicago Bulls
It was a bit of mystery who the Bulls would take at #18 in this year’s NBA Draft and they decided to go with Arizona wing Dalen Terry.
Terry is a super-efficient and athletic wing whose strength is attacking and playmaking. He doesn’t need the ball in his hands all the time to do so; with Benedict Mathurin and Kerr Kriisa leading the Wildcats, Terry was more of an off-ball threat. Arizona had a phenomenal year; running teams out of the gym consistently, and Terry was perhaps their best transition weapon. Always pushing to set up Benedict Mathurin or the Arizona bigs. Terry finished the 2021-22 season with the highest Offensive Rating (estimate of points produced per 100 possessions) of any non-center on Arizona. We can see this on the chart below.
Christian Koloko and Oumar Ballo are both 7-footers who were efficient parts of the Arizona offense due to just about all of their shots coming from dump offs, alley-oops and shots right around the basket. Terry ranks third only behind them on that Arizona offense that ranked 7th in the country in offensive efficiency.
Strengths
- His ability to play off-ball should help translate to the NBA game quicker
- Long frame (7’0 wing-span) helps him create turnovers (led Arizona in steals last season)
- Great passer (knows how to find the right man in transition, 2nd on Arizona in assists)
- Unselfish, but versatile playmaker
- Very efficient scorer
Areas for Improvement
- 3-Point shooting- 36.4% (28 of 77), decent but could definitely improve
- Can be too unselfish and defer to teammates
- Needs to add some strength
- Finishing in traffic and drawing fouls
- Discipline on defense
His areas of improvement are all things that can be developed. He will need to develop the pull up and scoring game, but he has a lot value with his size and unique playmaking ability. The Bulls obviously struggled after Lonzo Ball went out last year and Terry has the ability to do a lot of what Lonzo did if injuries linger for Lonzo going forward.
The passing ability is what really excites me about Terry given the Bulls current roster. The Bulls were so good when they pushed the ball last year (especially with Lonzo) and adding a guy who can pass the way Terry can and is used to running (Arizona loves to run when they can, they were Top 10 in Tempo last year) is a great addition. And he plays with emotion that Bulls fans will love! Just check out the highlight video below if you want to get excited about what this guy can bring to Chicago!