Chicago Bulls Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bulls Waive Alize Johnson, Sign Alfonzo McKinnie For Rest Of Season

December 26th, 2021 at 10:43am CST by Arthur Hill

10:43am: Both moves are official, the Bulls announced (via Twitter). Since Johnson’s $1.7MM salary was partially guaranteed, the prorated cap hit for Chicago will be about $706K, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. McKinnie will have a $1.09MM salary and a $1.02MM cap hit, leaving the team roughly $3MM below the luxury tax line.

9:06am: The Bulls will waive forward Alize Johnson, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The newly-opened roster spot will be used to sign Alfonzo McKinnie to a contract that covers the remainder of the season (Twitter link).

McKinnie becomes the league’s first COVID-19 hardship addition to earn a standard contract, Charania notes. The 29-year-old small forward signed a pair of 10-day deals and has averaged 8.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in three games. This is the fifth NBA team for McKinnie, who has also played for the Raptors, Warriors, Cavaliers and Lakers after going undrafted in 2017.

Johnson, 25, signed a two-year deal with Chicago during the offseason and received a partial guarantee of $250K for making the opening-night roster. His $1.878MM salary for 2022/23 was non-guaranteed until July 2, 2022, so the Bulls won’t be on the hook for any more money beyond this season.

Johnson was among several Chicago players who entered the league’s health and safety protocols earlier this month, but he was cleared to return on Thursday. He appeared in 16 games for the Bulls, averaging 1.8 points and 2.3 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per night.

Selected by the Pacers with the 50th pick in 2018, Johnson spent two years with Indiana, then played 18 games for the Nets last season after joining the team in March on a 10-day contract.

Billy Donovan Enters Health And Safety Protocols

December 24th, 2021 at 11:41am CST by Luke Adams

Bulls head coach Billy Donovan has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link). Johnson adds (via Twitter) that assistant Chris Fleming will serve as Chicago’s acting head coach in Donovan’s absence.

Things appeared to be trending in the right direction for the Bulls, who at one point had 10 players in the COVID-19 protocols. The team’s last five affected players exited the protocols on Thursday, prompting Donovan to joke about having too many players at practice, rather than not enough. Now, Donovan himself has apparently returned either a positive or inconclusive COVID-19 test.

Assuming Donovan tested positive and that result is confirmed, he’ll likely be away from the club for at least 10 days.

He’s the fourth NBA head coach this month to enter the health and safety protocols. Rick Carlisle has since been cleared and rejoined the Pacers, while Lakers coach Frank Vogel and Kings coach Alvin Gentry remain sidelined.

NBA Makes Minor Adjustment To Hardship Rules

December 24th, 2021 at 10:22am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has made a minor adjustment to its new hardship rules, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter links).

As Marks outlines, a player who is signed to a 10-day hardship deal can now be moved to the inactive list if the player he was replacing comes out of the health and safety protocols and is cleared to return before that 10-day deal expires.

Under the previous hardship rules, the player on the 10-day contract would have to be waived once the player he replaced has been cleared.

For instance, the Bulls had several players exit the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols this week and no longer have any players affected. But the team still has three players signed to 10-day hardship contracts — Alfonzo McKinnie‘s deal runs through December 29, while Ersan Ilyasova and Mac McClung are under contract through December 31.

Under the new rules, if all the Chicago players who were in the protocols are cleared to return, the team could move McKinnie, Ilyasova, and/or McClung to the inactive list rather than immediately terminating their contracts. That would allow the Bulls to avoid having to sign a new replacement player if they have another player test positive for COVID-19 in the next week — in that scenario, they could simply reactivate one of their current replacements, as long as that player’s 10-day deal has yet to expire.

The Heat are another team that could be impacted by this rule in the short term, since they no longer have any players in the protocols and Zylan Cheatham is on a 10-day contract that runs through next Friday. However, many teams besides Chicago and Miami could find themselves in similar situations in the coming days as more players exit the protocols.

Zach LaVine, Four Other Bulls Exit COVID-19 Protocols

December 23rd, 2021 at 1:09pm CST by Luke Adams

All the Bulls players who were in the health and safety protocols have now rejoined the team, head coach Billy Donovan said today (Twitter link via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago). That group consists of Zach LaVine, Ayo Dosunmu, Alize Johnson, Matt Thomas, and Devon Dotson.

LaVine, Dosunmu, Johnson, and Thomas were all placed in the COVID-19 protocols at least 10 days ago. Dotson just entered the protocols on Tuesday, but has since tested out of them, according to Donovan (Twitter link via Johnson). That suggests that perhaps Dotson registered a false positive test earlier in the week.

It’s great news for the Bulls, who were one of the first teams to be affected by a coronavirus outbreak this month and who have had three games postponed. They’ll resume play on Sunday when they host Indiana.

The Bulls currently have three replacement players on 10-day hardship contracts. Alfonzo McKinnie signed his second 10-day deal on Monday and Ersan Ilyasova and Mac McClung inked their respective 10-day pacts on Wednesday.

While those contracts remain active for now, once all the Bulls players coming out of the protocols have been medically cleared to return to action, the team won’t be able to continue carrying those hardship signees, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). That means Ilyasova and McClung likely won’t get to play out their full 10-day contracts, and if Chicago wants to keep McKinnie around, the team would have to create room by trading or waiving someone from the 15-man roster.

Alex Caruso Out At Least 7-10 Days

December 23rd, 2021 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

Bulls guard Alex Caruso continues to battle injury issues, having sustained a left foot sprain in Monday’s win over Houston. According to the team (via Twitter), he’ll be reevaluated in about seven-to-10 days.

Caruso, who had been dealing with a right hamstring ailment earlier in the month, benefited from a pair of postponements last week, which gave that hamstring time to heal. However, he left Monday’s game with a new injury after playing just six minutes.

Despite being a little banged up as of late, Caruso has still appeared in 26 of Chicago’s 29 games this season, averaging 8.4 PPG, 4.0 APG, and 3.7 RPG on .448/.364/.830 shooting in 28.0 MPG. Those numbers undersell Caruso’s impact on the defensive end, where he’s averaging 2.0 steals per game. The Bulls have a +8.4 net rating when he plays, compared to -2.5 when he sits.

Chicago’s depth chart remains in flux as players enter and exit the health and safety protocols, but Coby White, Javonte Green, and Ayo Dosunmu are among those who could play larger roles until Caruso returns. Dosunmu is in the protocols, but could be cleared to return early next week.

Bulls Sign Ersan Ilyasova Via Hardship Exception

December 22nd, 2021 at 7:40pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 22: The contract is official, according to NBA.com’s transactions page.

DECEMBER 21: The Bulls have agreed to sign free agent forward Ersan Ilyasova to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne (Twitter link).

The shorthanded Bulls, who currently have six players in the health and safety protocols, have already added Alfonzo McKinnie as a replacement player and will reportedly sign Mac McClung as well. The hardship signings won’t count toward the team’s 15-man roster limit, so no corresponding moves are necessary.

Ilyasova, 34, has an extensive NBA résumé, having appeared in 825 regular season games and another 52 playoff contests since making his debut in 2006. However, he didn’t sign until March last season and played a limited role down the stretch for the Jazz, averaging just 3.8 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 17 games (8.7 MPG).

The former second-round pick out of Turkey is known as a stretch four, having made 36.7% of his career attempts from beyond the arc.

Ilyasova will earn $151,821 over the course of his 10-day contract, but it won’t count against the Bulls’ team salary for cap or tax purposes.

Bulls Sign Mac McClung To 10-Day Deal

December 22nd, 2021 at 7:37pm CST by Arthur Hill

DECEMBER 22: McClung’s deal is official, according to NBA.com’s transactions page.

DECEMBER 21: The Bulls will sign guard Mac McClung to a 10-day hardship contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

After going undrafted out of Texas Tech, the 22-year-old guard signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Lakers, but was waived in October before the season began. He has played 13 games for L.A.’s G League affiliate in South Bay, averaging 13.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists per night.

The Bulls, who had two games postponed last week, are starting to get healthier, but still have six players in the health and safety protocols. They signed Alfonzo McKinnie to a second 10-day contract on Monday.

NBA Postpones Raptors/Bulls Game; Anunoby Enters Protocols

December 22nd, 2021 at 10:45am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA is postponing Wednesday’s game in Chicago between the Raptors and Bulls, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The NBA has officially confirmed the decision, announcing that Toronto doesn’t have the required minimum of eight players available.

Marc Stein first reported (via Twitter) that the game was at risk of postponement because one or more of the replacement players Toronto agreed to sign in order to meet the roster minimum may need to immediately enter the NBA’s health and safety protocols.

The Raptors entered the day with seven players in the health and safety protocols and OG Anunoby entered the protocols on Wednesday, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarwoski (Twitter link). Khem Birch (knee), Justin Champagnie (non-COVID illness), David Johnson (calf), and Goran Dragic (not with team) were also ruled out for tonight’s game, leaving the team with just four healthy players.

Toronto had lined up deals with five replacement players (Nik Stauskas, Brandon Goodwin, Tremont Waters, Juwan Morgan, and D.J. Wilson), but those signings aren’t yet official.

This is the second time in the last week that a Bulls/Raptors game has been postponed. The two teams were supposed to play in Chicago last Thursday, but the Bulls didn’t have enough players at that point.

Both clubs will now be off through Christmas before resuming their respective schedules on December 26. The Raptors play in Cleveland on Sunday, while the Bulls will host Indiana.

Playing For Bulls A "Dream Come True" For McKinnie

December 22nd, 2021 at 8:41am CST by Luke Adams

Carving out a role with the Bulls has been a “dream come true” for Alfonzo McKinnie, who is currently on his second 10-day contract with his hometown team. “I’m a West Side kid. I grew up like 10, 15 minutes down the way,” McKinnie said on Monday, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “House was a Bulls house. Watched the Bulls growing up. So just being able to compete on the highest stage in my hometown, on my favorite side of the city, the West Side, it’s been surreal to be honest. Just putting that jersey on has been everything for me.”

Injury/COVID Notes: J. Green, P. Tucker, E. Davis, T. Brown

December 21st, 2021 at 3:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Rockets rookie Jalen Green is on track to play on Thursday in Indiana, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Houston has a back-to-back road set on Wednesday and Thursday vs. the Bucks and Pacers, respectively, so the team is eyeing the second game in that back-to-back for Green’s return.

The No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, Green has been sidelined for nearly a month due to a strained left hamstring, which he suffered on November 24. He averaged 14.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 2.3 APG on .382/.378/.807 shooting in his first 18 NBA games (30.8 MPG) and will be looking to improve upon those numbers when he returns to the court.

Here are a few more updates from around the league related to injuries and COVID-19:

Bulls wing Troy Brown has exited the health and safety protocols and is rejoining the team, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Chicago still has five players in the protocols.
The Cavaliers have placed veteran big man Ed Davis in the health and safety protocols, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Cleveland is facing a significant COVID-19 outbreak, with eight players in the protocols, but should have enough players available to continue its schedule, says Wojnarowski.
An MRI on P.J. Tucker‘s left knee injury revealed no structural damage, says Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The Heat have diagnosed Tucker’s injury as lower left leg nerve inflammation and ruled him out for Tuesday’s game vs. Indiana. It’s unclear how much more time he might miss.