The Bulls have signed veteran guard Sean Kilpatrick to a three-year, $6.2MM contract, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. According to Charania, the deal – signed using the mid-level exception – isn’t guaranteed for the second and third years.
It has been an eventful season for Kilpatrick, who opened 2017/18 with the Nets. Waived by Brooklyn in December, Kilpatrick signed a two-way deal with the Bucks, which was eventually converted into a standard NBA deal in January. The 28-year-old was cut by Milwaukee in March and then signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Clippers. After those deals expired, Kilpatrick appeared poised to sign with the Celtics, but that deal fell through over the weekend when he received a more appealing offer from the Bulls.
Kilpatrick’s nomadic existence this season comes on the heels of his best year as a pro. In 2016/17, he averaged 13.1 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 70 games for the Nets. Perhaps hoping he can repeat that level of production in the right environment, the Bulls are taking a very low-risk flier on Kilpatrick.
Because the Bulls remain below the NBA’s minimum salary floor, the deal essentially won’t cost them anything this season — the gap between a team’s total salary and the league-mandated minimum (90% of the cap) must be paid out at the end of the season to the club’s players, so the money given to Kilpatrick won’t add anything to the team’s year-end bill. The Bulls are believed to still be about $2MM below the salary floor after adding Kilpatrick.
Chicago’s 15-man roster was full after Sunday’s C.J. Fair signing, so Fair – like Jaylen Johnson before him – figures to be the player waived to make room for Kilpatrick.
Not sure who had the bigger impact on the Bulls this season … CJ Fair or Jaylen Johnson?