Tomas Satoransky

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Bulls Season Highlights: Tomas Satoransky

While the injury bug hit the Bulls hard throughout the season, point guard Tomas Satoransky went through his first year in Chicago pretty much unscathed. He’s the only Bulls starter from opening night to play in all 65 games during the season. He started 64 of those games, the lone exception being the final game the Bulls played this season against Cleveland as rookie Coby White replaced him in the starting lineup.

The fact that White replaced Satoransky speaks to how well the rookie played following the All-Star break. After all, White was arguably the hottest player in the league as the season went into a hiatus. During Chicago’s final nine games, White averaged 26.1 points while shooting over 43% from three. Satoransky handled the change in the lineup like a professional. "I think it's just a logical step, and you just have to respect that sometimes it happens to you as a player,” Satoransky said following the Cleveland game. “I'm just happy for him for helping us win the game. He's been balling out, so he deserves a chance."

Satoransky averaged a career-high in points, rebounds, assists, and steals this season while taking on a bigger role in Chicago after coming from Washington. But he was an inconsistent shooter as he shot below his career percentages from the field overall and from three this season. The 6-foot-7 point guard did lead the team in assists and had 14 games this year where he had 8 or more dimes. He had performances this year where he absolutely stuffed the stat sheet (see more below). With a year under his belt with his new team, Satoransky will be motivated to make sure he’s a more consistent and impactful player next season.

Satoransky scores a career-high 27 points against the Hawks.

Let's take a look at a few of Satoransky's standout performances this season:

NOVEMBER 6, 2019 AT ATLANTA (BULLS 113, HAWKS 93)

Satoransky Stat Line: 27 points (10-13 FG), 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal

The Bulls were dominant from end-to-end and put together a complete game in this early-season matchup in Atlanta. Coming off a disappointing loss where Chicago gave up a big lead to the Lakers at home, the Bulls took out their frustrations in the first quarter by going on a 28-6 run. Satoransky came out aggressive, scoring 7 of his career-high 27 points in the opening quarter. He was also hot from distance and knocked down 4-of-5 shots from downtown.

JANUARY 25, 2020 AT CLEVELAND (BULLS 118, CAVS 106)

Satoransky Stat Line: 19 points (8-11 FG), 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals

This night was all about Zach LaVine who put together one of the best performances of his career with 44 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists, falling just short of his first-career triple-double. But Satoransky provided great support all-around as the team continued playing a stretch with Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr., and Otto Porter Jr. all sidelined with injuries. Sato made great decisions throughout the game as he was smart with his own shot selection while also finding teammates particularly LaVine and Luke Kornet easy opportunities to finish at the rim. He was also active defensively in the passing lanes, collecting 3 steals as the Bulls won the turnover battle 21-9.

FEBRUARY 23, 2020 VS WASHINGTON (BULLS 126, WIZARDS 117)

Satoransky Stat Line: 15 points (6-10 FG, 5-6 3PT), 13 assists, 4 steals

The best pass to make on the floor is usually the right one, not necessarily the flashy ones. Sato consistently found teammates throughout the night and racked up 13 dimes on this night. Sato did a great job of being decisive with the ball and playing within himself - he also no turnovers. He played well against his former team during the whole season: in four games against Washington this season, Satoransky averaged 17.3 points on 59.5% shooting, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals.

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Bulls 2019-2020 Season Recap: Tomas Satoransky

Sam Smith

The Bulls open the 2019-20 NBA season Thursday. Well, not officially since the NBA says everyone has to wait until Tuesday, the Bulls Wednesday in Charlotte. But by naming his starting five for that Oct. 23 opener after Tuesday's practice—Tomas Satoransky, as expected, to start at point guard—Bulls coach Jim Boylen also appeared appropriately to be looking ahead.

Who knows whom the Atlanta Hawks will play Thursday in the United Center when both teams concluded their preseason games given the Hawks will be finishing the second in two nights on the road. The Bulls, however, will go with their regular starters with a shortened rotation because the team has to be eying that potential 5-0 start.

No one would ever say that, and certainly no one from a 22-win team should.

But in a rare opening schedule break for a franchise that annually suffered from the early circus road trip, the Bulls play arguably the league's four weakest teams—Charlotte, Memphis, New York and Cleveland—in the first five games. All on the road complicates the possibility of the fast start, obviously. But then the middle home game is the Oct. 26 opener against defending champion Toronto without Kawhi Leonard and playing the second of a back to back with both on the road.

So can the Bulls start now and grab the early season momentum starting Thursday against the Hawks?

"The plan is to play our top 10 guys, our playing group, to get them even more used to each other, to work out our in-game rotations with those 10 guys," Boylen said about the plan for the closing preseason game. "Of course we want to get off to a fast start (in the regular season). But I want us to play good basketball and I want us to get better every day and grow with this group of guys. And what I've seen and how I feel about this team, if we do that we're going to be a good team. Our goal is to get better every day and come into every game with that edge and not have the ball stick and trust each other and play good basketball. We're keeping score, we want to win. But I want us to grow and be better."

Winning would be nice, especially after the last two seasons. The Bulls with the three No. 7 first round picks (Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr. and Coby White) now firmly in the regular rotation believe they have exited the recent developmental stage. That especially comes with the additions within the last eight months of veterans Otto Porter Jr., Thaddeus Young and Satoransky.

The only players left on the roster from the night of the Jimmy Butler trade June 22, 2017 are Denzel Valentine and Cristiano Felicio. So in just two years the Bulls have drastically changed a roster that could/should/might be at least a playoff contender this season.

The training camp mystery of who would start at point guard—which really was not so much of one once the Bulls completed the Satoransky sign-and-trade— was revealed Wednesday with Boylen's disclosure.

"Tomas will start at the point guard," Boylen confirmed. "Kris Dunn will come off the bench and play on the second unit. I've been happy with both of them. They're both in good places. I think this is what's best for our team, and I think it will be great for both of them individually. Kris has to be kind of our defensive force in that second group. He had 11 deflections and six steals against Indiana (Friday), so he can impact the game coming off the bench. He's embraced it. I've spoken with him and we had a good conversation about it. He's all about winning, and I'm really proud of him.''

Though the positional template seemed established, Boylen conducted something of an audition with Satoransky and Dunn sharing starts in the first two preseason games. Dunn ended up playing more with reserves, especially when none of the regulars played in Indiana. So his statistics are somewhat skewed. But Satoransky produced more and seemed a sleeker fit with the uptempo philosophy of the other starters, Porter, Carter, Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen.

Satoransky averaged 8.3 points, five rebounds and five assists in three games. Dunn averaged 6.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists in four. The Bulls are 1-3 in those games. Satoransky shot 58.8 percent overall and was four of five on threes. Dunn shot 42.9 percent and was two of 10 on threes. Satoransky had a plus-30 overall in three games and Dunn was minus-10 in four.

Dunn's tenure with the Bulls seemed uncertain after a spiraling end to last season. But Dunn in recent interviews said he reassessed this summer and is committed to the team whatever his role.

"I've always said he's a terrific kid," Boylen said about Dunn. "I've always said he's for the team. I've always said he's very coachable. Those things haven't changed how I feel about him and what he's done. I do think that he's in a really good place. I do think he had some introspection and got some time away and it was good for him. He said it, we've said it; he's prepared to help the team win. And that's his mindset. That's what we need. It's going to be about sharing and sacrifice. He's going to come off that bench and help us win.''

As for Satoransky, Boylen anticipates some wizardry.

"I love the way he throws the ball ahead," Boylen said. "I love his command of our offense already. He's obviously a terrific shooter. He can play on the ball and off those guys and create space. Him and I have a real good connection and he's got a really good feel. I feel confident in him running that first group."

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Opening Night Starters Are Set

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Tomas Satoransky's Stellar Performance at the FIBA World Cup in Photos

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Tomas Satoransky Participates in Team Czech Republic Training

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Tomas Satoransky talks with BullsTV

The Chicago Bulls announced today that the team has acquired guard Tomas Satoransky (Thomas Sah-tore-RAN-skee) from the Washington Wizards in a sign-and-trade agreement. Chicago conveyed future draft considerations to Washington as part of the trade. In accordance with team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Satoransky (6-7, 210) was the 32nd-overall selection by the Washington Wizards in the 2012 NBA Draft. In 210 games (87 starts) over his career, he has posted averages of 6.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from three and 79.2 percent from the free throw line. Last season, Satoransky posted career-high averages across the board with 8.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 80 games (54 starts). He has also seen time in 16 playoff games in his career.

In 2018-19, Satoransky dished seven or more assists in 28 games, which tied for the 22nd-most such games in the league. He posted a career-high seven double-doubles, including his first career triple double of 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists on Jan. 11, 2019, vs. Milwaukee. Satoransky's assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.33 (399:120) ranked 14th in the NBA. The native of Prague owns the record for most points scored in an NBA game by a Czech-born player with 25 on Feb. 10, 2018, at Chicago.

Satoransky will wear No. 31 for the Bulls.

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BULLS ACQUIRE TOMAS SATORANSKY

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