After spending the 2023/24 season in the NBA, Turkish forward Onuralp Bitim will head back overseas for the ’24/25 campaign, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com.
According to Urbonas, Bitim is on track to sign a long-term contract with the Istanbul-based club Fenerbahce. However, Fenerbahce has a crowded rotation on the wing, so the team is expected to loan the 25-year-old to Bayern Munich in Germany for the rest of this season.
Having played professionally in Turkey for several years, Bitim made the move stateside in 2023 and opened the NBA season on a two-way contract with the Bulls. He was promoted to Chicago’s standard roster in February and began to see some action at the NBA level around that time.
Bitim, who made his NBA debut on Feb. 22, ultimately appeared in 23 total games for Chicago, averaging 3.5 points and 1.4 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .381/.273/.800. His season ended due to a detached retina, which required multiple surgeries and an uncomfortable recovery process.
Bitim remained under contract with the Bulls until last month, when he was among the club’s preseason cuts.
While Bitim’s NBA numbers were underwhelming, he was a solid contributor at the G League level in 22 games for the Windy City Bulls, putting up 14.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists on .415/.363/.909 shooting in 30.1 minutes per contest. In 2022/23, he made the All-EuroCup Second Team for Bursaspor in Turkey after averaging 18.1 PPG and 3.2 APG in 18 EuroCup outings.
The NBA is low key getting rid of foreign guys, veterans and white players….