The Bulls have waived veteran guard Sean Kilpatrick, the team announced today (via Twitter). The club now has 14 players under contract, not counting restricted free agents David Nwaba or Ryan Arcidiacono.
Kilpatrick, 28, had an eventful 2017/18 campaign. After starting the season with the Nets, he was waived by Brooklyn and signed a two-way contract with the Bucks. Milwaukee converted his two-way deal to a standard NBA contract in January, then waived him in March. Kilpatrick subsequently inked a pair of 10-day contracts with the Clippers before finally joining the Bulls on a multiyear contract.
In 52 total games with four teams last season, Kilpatrick averaged 6.3 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 12.3 minutes per contest. He was at his best in Chicago, posting 15.4 PPG on .439/.396/.813 shooting in nine games with the Bulls, but it seems that wasn’t enough to earn him a roster spot for 2018/19.
Kilpatrick’s $2MM+ salary for 2018/19 was non-guaranteed, so Chicago won’t be on the hook for any of it. However, the Bulls – who were under the salary floor for 2017/18 when they signed him – paid the well-traveled guard a generous $2.16MM salary for nine games last season.
With Kilpatrick no longer on their books, the Bulls can create up to nearly $16MM in cap space for 2018/19 by renouncing various exceptions and Noah Vonleh’s cap hold. That figure could increase to approximately $19MM if the club waives its other non-guaranteed players (Julyan Stone and Paul Zipser), even with Nwaba’s qualifying offer still on the cap.
I liked him on the Bucks. Just wasn’t a need. I’d take him back
Ok, first Kirkpatrick and now Nwaba. There’s something bigger brewing here. They’re creating additional cap space for a move. Either going after Hood or possibly Parker OR lining up a trade to take on a bad contract that they’ll buy out but receive draft pick(s) – Melo perhaps, maybe Deng.
Good job!