2:25pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
1:40pm: The Bulls have struck a deal with eight-year NBA veteran Solomon Jones, according to his representatives at the Priority Sports agency (Twitter link). It’s a one-year deal for the minimum, as Shams Charania of RealGM confirms (on Twitter). Both the agency and Charania indicate that the 6’10” center has already put pen to paper, but the team has yet to make an official announcement. It’s not clear whether there’s any guaranteed money involved. Still, given the 13 deals with at least some guaranteed money that the team is already carrying and Chicago’s reluctance to keep more than the NBA-minimum 13 players for opening night in recent years, Jones’ salary is probably non-guaranteed.
Jones appeared in 11 games with the Magic early last season before the Magic waived him rather than guarantee his salary for the rest of the year. The 30-year-old played for the Knicks D-League affiliate after Orlando let him go, and he also traveled to play in a second-tier Chinese league during the summer. He managed only 1.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 7.7 minutes per game for Orlando last season, and he’s never seen more than 13.9 minutes per game in any one NBA season.
The Bulls have a well-stocked frontcourt with Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson and Nikola Mirotic, and Nazr Mohammed is probably the favorite if the team retains a player on a non-guaranteed contract, so it’s tough to envision Jones lasting long in Chicago. The team has a dozen fully guaranteed pacts, while E’Twaun Moore‘s deal is partially guaranteed for $425K.