- The Suns’ ability to make the Finals with a young group fortified by key veteran additions helped convince Bulls executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas to take an aggressive approach to the offseason, Chris Herring of Sports Illustrated writes. “It was very motivating to see how big a jump a team like Phoenix was able to make,” Karnisovas said. Herring takes a close look at how the pieces acquired by the Bulls could fit together.
USA Basketball has announced that former Bulls head coach Jim Boylen will coach Team USA during November’s qualifying games for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which will take place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia. The U.S. team will face Cuba on November 28 and Mexico on November 29.
While NBA players make up Team USA’s roster in the World Cup itself, the qualifiers take place during the NBA season, so the roster is typically made up of G League veterans. After November’s games, the next round of qualifiers will take place in February.
Jeff Van Gundy coached the qualifying team leading up to the 2019 FIBA World Cup before handing things off to Gregg Popovich for the World Cup itself. USA Basketball has yet to announce Popovich’s successor, but Steve Kerr has been identified as a frontrunner. If Kerr gets the job, he’d coach the 2023 team in the World Cup, assuming Boylen’s group clinches a spot in the event.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- NBA veteran Lance Stephenson, who last played in China, has signed an NBA G League contract and will be draft-eligible on October 23, our JD Shaw reports (via Twitter). Stephenson’s last stint in the NBA came during the 2019/20 season with the Lakers. He has appeared in more than 500 career regular season games.
- The NBA announced on Tuesday that this season’s opening-night rosters feature a total of 109 international players from 39 countries. That includes a record number of players from Canada (18) Germany (seven), and the Bahamas (three). Appropriately, the Raptors lead the league with 10 international players.
- Within his in-depth look at the players who did and didn’t sign extensions this offseason, ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) notes that Wizards guard Bradley Beal and Bulls guard Zach LaVine remain extension-eligible, but would be able to maximize their future earnings by waiting until free agency to sign new deals.
- Dante Exum, who was waived on Saturday by the Rockets, owns a minority stake in the South East Melbourne Phoenix, and the NBL team’s general manager indicated it would love to him as a player. “If and when Dante decides that the NBL is the right move for him, we of course will do whatever we can do to make that as easy for him as possible,” GM Tommy Greer said (link via NBL.com.au).
Veteran reserve center Ed Davis understands why a rebuilding Cavaliers team wants him on the roster, per Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Twitter link).
“I’m authentic with everything,” Davis said. “For these guys, I’m not in competition. I’m not trying to beat out (starting center Jarrett Allen) for his minutes or take the rookie (Evan Mobley)’s minutes. Anything that is coming from me is coming from an honest place. I know my role. I know why I’m here.”
The 32-year-old big man inked a non-guaranteed deal with the club last week. He averaged just 2.1 PPG and 5.0 RPG over 23 games as a back-up for the lottery-bound Timberwolves during the 2020/21 season.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Pacers small forward T.J. Warren continues to recover from a stress fracture in the navicular bone in his left foot, per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (via Twitter). Agness reports that Warren remains in a walking boot, and appears to still be weeks away from returning to practices with Indiana. Warren missed all but four games during the 2020/21 season with the injury. A valuable two-way contributor when healthy, the 28-year-old will reach free agency in 2022.
- Pistons head coach Dwane Casey has indicated that wing Josh Jackson earned a spot in the club’s rotation, per Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). “He’s definitely in the rotation the way he’s played and played with confidence, defending without fouling,” Casey said. “His growth has been fantastic.” Jackson, selected with the fourth pick in the 2017 draft out of Kansas, has bounced around during his NBA tenure so far.
- New Bulls starting point guard Lonzo Ball will be looked on to help open up the floor as another high-level passer for a suddenly ball handler-heavy Chicago team, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “Lonzo instinctively on made baskets does a really good job of getting high outlets,” raved head coach Billy Donovan. “There are times where the ball gets inbounded and he’s looping and there are guys already down the floor and we can do that. There’s a balance there for him.”
The Bulls will hang onto big man Tyler Cook for the regular season, converting his Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Chicago’s roster now appears set for the regular season. In addition to their 13 players on guaranteed contracts, the Bulls are carrying Cook and Devon Dotson on two-way deals, along with Alize Johnson and Matt Thomas on non-guaranteed contracts.
Although Johnson and Thomas each have fewer than four years of NBA experience, they were ineligible to be converted to two-way contracts due to the deals they signed — neither one included Exhibit 10 language, but Cook’s did, making him the obvious candidate to fill the team’s open two-way slot.
A 6’8″ forward out of Iowa, Cook played for the Cavaliers and Nuggets as a rookie in 2019/20, then spent time with the Nets and Pistons during the 2020/21 campaign. After signing a 10-day contract with Brooklyn, he inked a pair of 10-day pacts with Detroit and then agreed to a multiyear deal in April. The team waived him at the end of July.
In 32 total games in 2020/21 for the Nets and Pistons, Cook averaged 4.9 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 32 games (13.7 MPG). He made 67.0% of his field goal attempts, but just 48.6% of his free throws.
The Bulls have waived forwards Stanley Johnson and Troy Baxter Jr., the team announced on social media today (Twitter link). Johnson previously signed a non-guaranteed deal with the organization, while Baxter signed an Exhibit 10 contract.
Chicago has also rewarded big man Alize Johnson and will keep him on the 15-man roster, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic tweets. Johnson has impressed during training camp and will stick with the Bulls after a brief stint in Brooklyn last season. He averaged 5.2 points, five rebounds and 10.5 minutes in 18 contests with the Nets.
As for Stanley Johnson, the 25-year-old joined Chicago for training camp and played in all four preseason games. He was the No. 8 overall pick in 2015 and has made past stops with Detroit, New Orleans and Toronto.
At least one more roster move will be required for the Bulls, who are still carrying 16 players on standard contracts, including Matt Thomas and Tyler Cook on non-guaranteed deals. The team could keep both players by converting Cook to a two-way contract, but it remains unclear if that’s the plan. It does sound like Thomas will make the opening-night roster though, per Mayberry (Twitter link).
The Bulls are entering the 2021/22 season with a revamped roster, acquiring Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan and others during the summer. Chicago finished 11th in the Eastern Conference at 31-41 last season.
The Bulls announced in a tweet that they have signed Troy Baxter Jr. Terms of the contract weren’t disclosed, but it’s likely to be an Exhibit 10 deal.
Baxter is a rookie after going undrafted in 2021, so the move secures his G League rights. It’s highly likely that he’ll be waived before the season starts, and if he spends at least 60 days with the Windy City Bulls, Baxter would be eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K.
Baxter, a 6’9″ forward, played for three different college teams prior going undrafted: UNLV, Florida Gulf Coast, and Morgan State. He averaged 15.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 1.6 BPG in 27.0 MPG for Morgan State as a senior, with a .426/.350/.744 shooting line. He most recently suited up for the Bulls’ Summer League team, appearing in four contests with modest stats.
OCTOBER 14: The Bulls have waived Alford, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. The guard is a potential candidate to join the Windy City Bulls, Chicago’s G League affiliate.
OCTOBER 13: The Bulls are signing free agent guard Bryce Alford to a training camp contract, a league source tells our JD Shaw (Twitter link). The deal is official, per RealGM’s transactions log.
Alford, who played his college ball at UCLA, spent two years in the G League with the Oklahoma City Blue to begin his professional career in 2017-19. He has since made stops in Germany and Portugal.
The Bulls have two openings on their preseason roster after waiving Daniel Oturu and Ethan Thompson on Monday, so no corresponding move will be necessary to complete the signing of Alford.
- Bulls forward Patrick Williams appears to be nearing a return. He participated fully in Wednesday’s practice and said his injured ankle “feels good,” per Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Bulls guard Coby White, who is recovering from shoulder surgery, still isn’t close to being cleared for contact. Head coach Billy Donovan said on Wednesday the team is about three or four weeks away from determining the next step in White’s rehab process (Twitter link via Cody Westerlund of 670TheScore.com).
The Hornets have engaged in discussions about a possible rookie scale contract extension for forward Miles Bridges, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Bridges is one of 18 players who remains eligible for a rookie extension up until the October 18 deadline.
Scotto says that some people around the NBA believe $20MM per year would be the floor for Bridges on a new deal. That’s the same price that has been frequently projected for another Bridges with a similar skill set: Mikal Bridges of the Suns.
Here are a few updates from Scotto on possible rookie scale extensions:
- The Suns and sharpshooter Landry Shamet have been having ongoing conversations about a possible extension, with one source suggesting that the odds of the two sides reaching a deal are about 50-50, says Scotto. Shamet has yet to appear in a regular season game for his new team, but Phoenix had reportedly coveted him for a while.
- Scotto suggests that Hawks wing Kevin Huerter could get “Joe Harris type of money,” adding that some people around the league think Huerter’s value is in the neighborhood of $18MM annually. Harris signed a four-year, $72MM contract with Brooklyn during the 2020 offseason.
- The Wizards and Aaron Holiday aren’t discussing an extension, but Washington likes the 25-year-old and will likely evaluate him over the course of the 2021/22 season, according to Scotto.
- Extensions for Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons and Bulls swingman Troy Brown appear unlikely, per Scotto.
The Bulls have waived center Daniel Oturu and shooting guard Ethan Thompson, the team announced today (via Twitter). Both players had been in Chicago on Exhibit 10 contracts.
Oturu, the 33rd overall pick in the 2020 draft, spent his first NBA season with the Clippers, averaging 1.8 PPG and 1.6 RPG in 30 games (5.4 MPG). He was sent to the Grizzlies along with Patrick Beverley and Rajon Rondo in an August trade, then joined the Bulls after being waived by Memphis.
Thompson, who went undrafted this year, spent his four-year college career with Oregon State, starting all 127 games he played for the team. In 2020/21, he averaged 15.7 PPG to go along with 4.0 RPG and 3.9 APG in 33.6 minutes per contest (33 games). The 22-year-old earned a spot on the All-Pac-12 First Team, then played for the Bulls’ Summer League team in Las Vegas.
With Oturu and Thompson no longer in the mix, the Bulls are carrying 18 players, including one (Devon Dotson) on a two-way deal. The team has 13 players on guaranteed contracts, with Stanley Johnson, Alize Johnson, Tyler Cook, and Matt Thomas vying for the last two spots on the 15-man regular season roster.