7:12pm: The Bulls waived Freeman-Liberty shortly after signing him, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. Assuming he has Exhibit 10 language in his contract, he’ll be eligible for a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he spends at least 60 days with Windy City in the G League.
10:26am: Free agent guard Javon Freeman-Liberty has signed a contract with the Bulls, according to RealGM’s official log of NBA transactions. He also appears on the team’s roster page.
By process of elimination, it appears Freeman-Liberty signed a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 deal with Chicago, likely with Exhibit 10 language.
Players who sign Exhibit 9 or Exhibit 10 contracts don’t appear on NBA.com’s official transactions log, but RealGM does track those deals. Exhibit 9/10 players only show up on NBA.com’s log when they’ve been waived (Miller Kopp is a recent example).
Freeman-Liberty, who turns 25 years old next week, signed with Turkish club Manisa Basket last month, but he decided to leave the team, which later announced he’d be continuing his career with the Bulls.
A Chicago native who went undrafted in 2022 out of DePaul, Freeman-Liberty spent his rookie season with the Windy City Bulls, Chicago’s G League affiliate.
The 6’4″ guard was on a two-way contract with the Raptors for most of the 2023/24 campaign before being promoted to the standard roster on March 1. Although his contract with Toronto covered two years, his salary for ’24/25 was partially guaranteed for just $100K, so he was waived in July before that partial guarantee increased.
Freeman-Liberty appeared in 22 games at the NBA level with Toronto, averaging 7.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 18.3 minutes per night. He put up much bigger numbers with the Raptors 905 in the NBAGL, including 24.0 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 4.2 APG, and a shooting line of .470/.360/.825 in 26 Showcase Cup and regular season outings.
Despite joining the Bulls late in the offseason, there could be a legitimate pathway for Freeman-Liberty to make the 18-man regular season roster. Chicago appears to be having a competition for its 15th standard roster spot, as well as its third two-way slot.
The Bulls currently have 14 players on guaranteed standard contracts, with Adama Sanogo and DJ Steward on two-way deals. Freeman-Liberty, Talen Horton-Tucker, E.J. Liddell, Kenneth Lofton Jr., and Onuralp Bitim on are all on non-guaranteed contracts. Of that latter group, only Horton-Tucker is ineligible for a two-way contract.
Chicago’s offseason roster is now full, with 21 players under contract.
So we’ve come full circle then. Glad he can play at home. He’s got the hustle.
THT is the 15th man after his tough play in pre season games. Bitim probably is the last 2way unless they decide they need another big and Lofton is there as injury insurance. The other guys will have to be satisfied playing in Hoffman Estates this year.