After being released by the Grizzlies in April, Dexter Pittman will join a new NBA team in hopes of earning a roster spot for the coming season. Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reports that Pittman has turned down an offer from an Italian club in favor of a training-camp invite from the Bulls.
Pittman, 25, has spent most of his three-year NBA career with the Heat, winning a title with the team in 2011/12. However, he was sent to Memphis in a deadline deal back in February, and was cut by the Grizzlies just before the club's playoff run started. In 48 career NBA contests since 2010, Pittman has averaged 2.4 PPG and 1.8 RPG, while those averages increase to 13.6 PPG and 8.4 RPG in 37 D-League games over the same period.
With Pittman's addition not yet official, the Bulls only have 12 players under contract, so there definitely should be room for the former second-round pick on the regular-season roster if he earns a spot. Still, I'd imagine Pittman's deal will be fully non-guaranteed, affording the club some flexibility.
Not over joyed, but not disappointed! He’s a big body that could improve a lot with Noah, Gibson, and Mohammad working with him. We needed a big body, Pittman has a big body, so welcome to Chicago.
He has already had the opportunity to learn from Lebron, Gasol, and Z-Bo. I don’t think any of our post players can teach him any offense or defense.
Obviously management differs with your opinion enough to give him an invite; so if they could get rid of TT and JJ in the past, and offer this guy an invite before Cole Alrich or even TT; either these guys are really bad or worse of a gamble than Pittman, or the organization sees a small amount of size or talent worth getting a better look at in training camp. And lets face it, anyone from this pool of left overs is a gamble or warm body to hold a spot until February when they can get a better shot at a real back up center. The main reason for this move is financial so lets just see what happens.