He’s 6-foot-7, can play either backcourt spot or on the wing, can defend multiple positions, and could change the trajectory of the Bulls’ season. His name is Dalen Terry.
He’s also 22 years old, has averaged 11.1 minutes over his three NBA seasons and has never scored more than 17 points in a game. Is it hyperbole to say he could swing Chicago’s year? Maybe. But if things break right, he’s versatile enough to give head coach Billy Donovan a weapon he’s never had.
He could be a skeleton key that unlocks new lineup combinations, half-court sets and defensive schemes.
An improved Dalen Terry would make Bulls multi-faceted on both ends
Chicago’s front office took a flyer on Terry with the 18th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. He was by no means a prolific scorer in college—he averaged just 8.0 points as a sophomore at Arizona—but his unique combination of measureables and intangibles made him intriguing.
He came away from the draft combine having measured over 6-foot-7 in shoes with a 7-foot-1 wingspan. Despite that height and length, Terry played mostly point guard in his second season with the Wildcats. He proved comfortable playing both on and off the ball, keeping the offense humming, making the right passes, moving in transition and finding unconventional ways to help his team win.
He averaged 4.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.2 steals that same season. His assist-to-turnover ratio was nearly 3:1. He was versatile on both ends of the floor, playing and defending multiple positions.
The glaring issue was the Tempe native’s lack of scoring skill set. He wasn’t a great shooter at Arizona and wasn’t a willing one, either. He only attempted 6.2 field goals per game despite starting every night and averaging nearly 28 minutes. That comes out to about one attempt every 4.5 minutes.
It’s that issue that’s held him back in the NBA thus far. Terry still isn’t a willing shooter, which can bog down Chicago’s offense at times. It also makes it hard to determine whether or not he can be a serviceable shooter. His splits of 45/36/71 last season were fine, but he only averaged 3.7 field goal attempts and 1.4 threes per game. And he got to the free throw line an average of 0.9 times.
But Terry’s versatility is still intriguing. He played 31 percent of his minutes at shooting guard and 62 percent at small forward in 2024-25. He appeared briefly as a point guard and power forward at times as well, per Basketball Reference.
His 2.1 steal percentage was second on the team to only Lonzo Ball, and his 1.6 steals per 36 minutes also trailed only Ball. He played mostly point guard once he became a starter in college. He spent the majority of his minutes last season on the wing. He was successful defending all three positions at both the collegiate and NBA levels.
The Bulls don’t have a player with Terry’s physical attributes other than perhaps Ball, who can only play in spurts and still suffers from significant injury issues. Chicago was one of the worst defensive teams in the league last season; it struggled to stop the ball at the point of attack and inside. Terry’s length and versatility could help if he can earn more minutes.
On offense, his ability to handle the ball and play next to a variety of players—he could form a jumbo backcourt with the 6-foot-8 Josh Giddey, add an extra ballhandler and passer next to Giddey and Coby White, contribute to a guard-heavy small-ball lineup if he plays the four, form an interesting forward combination with Matas Buzelis—would give Donovan a slew of different options.
He just needs to provide enough of a scoring punch to stay on the floor. He’s physically gifted enough, intelligent enough and selfless enough to do everything else the Bulls need in almost any lineup. If he can come into training camp next season with even a moderately improved offensive game and a bit more aggressiveness, his versatility is enough to raise Chicago’s ceiling.
