Bulls head coach Jim Boylen is excited about the new players his team brought in this offseason, and he hopes that the additions of veterans Thaddeus Young and Tomas Satoransky alongside rookies Coby White and Daniel Gafford will allow him to deploy a deeper roster during the 2019/20 season, writes Sean Highkin of NBC Sports Chicago.
- Thaddeus Young‘s three-year contract with the Bulls will have a total value between $40.6MM and 43.6MM, depending on whether he earns his incentives, tweets Pincus. The third year on Young’s deal is partially guaranteed for $6MM.
JULY 9: The Bulls confirmed (via Twitter) that Carter underwent his core muscle surgery today. The team says the youngster’s rehab process is expected to take about six to eight weeks, putting him on track to participate in camp in September.
JULY 3: Wendell Carter Jr. will undergo a procedure on July 9 to repair a core muscle injury, per the team’s website. The big man is expected to be ready for training camp.
The 2018 No. 7 overall pick was limited to just 44 games during his rookie season because of a thumb injury. He had surgery to repair the ailment during the campaign.
Carter Jr. will miss the entire Summer League as he manages his latest injury. The Bulls have been active in free agency adding depth in the frontcourt. Chicago added Luke Kornet and Thaddeus Young over the past few days to supplement their big man rotation. The team also drafted Daniel Gafford in the second round of this year’s draft.
The Bulls and Grizzlies have discussed a sign-and-trade for Justin Holiday that would send former top-10 pick Kris Dunn to Memphis, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune hears.
Holiday played for the Bulls last season before the team dealt him to the Grizzlies. Memphis made the December trade hoping to remain in the playoff hunt, surrendering two second-round picks to Chicago as well as Wayne Selden and MarShon Brooks (the wrong Brooks from the failed three-team trade with the Suns).
Chicago has made Dunn available in trade talks after drafting Coby White and acquiring Tomas Satoransky. Three of the team’s offseason goals were to add depth in the frontcourt, bring in point guard competition, and add outside shooting. The first two can be checked off the list.
Shooting on the wing remains on the Bulls’ wish list, Johnson adds. Holiday is a career 34.9% shooter from behind the arc.
The free agency deals began a week ago, but the details of those arrangements are slowly trickling in as they become official. Let’s take a look at some contract notes from players around the league:
- Nikola Vucevic’s four-year, $100MM deal with the Magic will decline by 8% annually, Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights tweets. Vucevic will make roughly $28.4MM in the first year of his front-loaded contract.
- Terrence Ross‘ four-year, $52MM contract with the Magic will start at $12.5MM, per Siegel. Ross will make $13.5MM during the 2020/21 season, followed by $12.5MM and $11.5MM in the two ensuing years.
- Al-Farouq Aminu will take home the full non-taxpayer’s mid-level on his deal with the Magic. He’ll make approximately $9.3MM during his first season and approximately $9.7MM and $10.2MM, respectively, over the ensuing two campaigns.
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s two year deal with the Lakers is worth approximately $16.6MM in total value. KCP can make roughly $1.2MM in annual incentives on top of that amount, a source tells Siegel (Twitter link). The shooting guard has a player option on the second year of the pact, which also has a 15% trade bonus. Since his deal could be a one-year contract (if he chooses to turn down the player option), Caldwell-Pope has a default no-trade clause.
- JaVale McGee also has a player option on the final year of his two-year deal with the Lakers, Keith Smith of RealGM tweets. McGee, who will make $8.2MM over the length of his contract, also has the ability to veto a trade.
- Markieff Morris‘ two-year deal with the Pistons contains a second-year player option, Smith tweets. Morris was signed via the bi-annual exception.
- Bruno Fernando‘s three-year deal with the Hawks is worth $4.7MM, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets. It appears Atlanta will be using cap space to sign the rookie.
- Tomas Satoransky final season of the three-year, $30MM deal with the Bulls is only guaranteed for $5MM, Fred Katz of The Athletic relays (Twitter link). Chicago brought the point guard to town via sign-and-trade.
JULY 7: The Bulls’ acquisition of Satoransky via sign-and-trade is now official, the team announced in a press release. 
JULY 1: The Bulls have reached an agreement with the Wizards to acquire restricted free agent point guard Tomas Satoransky via a sign-and-trade deal, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
In return, the Wizards will acquire two second-round picks. The 2023 second-round pick (protected 31-36) that the Bulls sent the Wizards in the Otto Porter trade will also have its protections removed as part of this deal, according to David Aldridge of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Wojnarowski (via Twitter) has the full details on the assets the Wizards are acquiring from the Bulls. They are as follows:
- Either the Bulls’ or Grizzlies’ 2020 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable).
- The right to swap the Lakers’ 2022 second-round pick for either the Bulls’ or Pistons’ 2022 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable).
- The 31-36 protection removed from the Bulls’ 2023 second-round pick.
According to Wojnarowski, Satoransky will ink a three-year contract with Chicago. Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (Twitter link) hears the deal will be worth $30MM, while Johnson tweets that the third year isn’t expected to be fully guaranteed.
A former second-round pick, Satoransky has spent his first three NBA seasons in Washington, and assumed the starting point guard role when John Wall when down last season. In 2018/19, he averaged 8.9 PPG, 5.0 APG, and 3.5 RPG in 80 games (27.1 MPG).
While Satoransky isn’t a big-usage player, he has been an efficient caretaker in the backcourt. Last season, he shot .485/.395/.819 and turned the ball over just 1.5 times per game.
The Bulls entered the summer with about $23MM in cap room and intended to use it on a pair of veterans, including a point guard. They reached a three-year, $41MM deal with Thaddeus Young on Sunday night, and now figure to use their leftover space to finalize the acquisition of Satoransky. According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the 27-year-old will get the opportunity to start at the point for the Bulls, who will presumably be patient with lottery pick Coby White.
As for the Wizards, they agreed to terms with Ish Smith this morning, but will be in the market for more point guard help with Wall expected to be sidelined for a good chunk of 2019/20. According to Aldridge (via Twitter), they’re talking to Isaiah Thomas and hope there’s a fit there.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nearly half the teams in the NBA renounced their rights to multiple free agents this week as they prepared to make new roster moves official, per RealGM’s transactions log. In some cases, like when the Clippers renounced the rights to Garrett Temple and Wilson Chandler, those free agents already new homes lined up, and removing their cap holds was simply a formality to create cap room for incoming additions.
In other cases, the housekeeping moves were a bit more noteworthy. The Pacers, for instance, renounced Darren Collison‘s Bird rights, so if the 31-year-old – who announced his retirement before the start of free agency – ever attempts an NBA comeback, Indiana will no longer have a leg up to re-acquire him.
Besides those two teams, the Hawks, Bucks, Nets, Jazz, Sixers, Clippers, Pelicans, Lakers, Kings, Celtics, Wizards, and Bulls also renounced various free agents, according to RealGM’s log.
Here are a few more notes related to free agency:
- The Lakers have withdrawn their qualifying offer to two-way player Johnathan Williams and renounced his rights, according to RealGM. That doesn’t preclude the Lakers from bringing back Williams on a new two-way deal, but he’ll be able to sign outright with a new team if he so chooses.
- At least nine teams are now confirmed to attend the Amar’e Stoudemire/Monta Ellis workout taking place in Las Vegas on Monday, tweets Jordan Schultz of ESPN. We previously relayed word of Stoudemire’s and Ellis’ attempts to make NBA comebacks.
- ESPN’s Bobby Marks provides salary cap updates on a pair of Southeast teams, tweeting that the Magic and Wizards are both safely out of luxury tax territory for now. According to Marks (Twitter links), Orlando has $3.5MM in breathing room under the tax line, counting Khem Birch‘s $1.8MM cap hold, while Washington is about $4MM below that threshold after cutting Jonathon Simmons.
JULY 8: The Bulls have officially signed Gafford, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 7: Second-round pick Daniel Gafford has reached an agreement with the Bulls on a four-year contract with a total value of $6.1MM, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The first two seasons of the deal are fully guaranteed.
The 6’11” center out of Arkansas was the 38th player taken in last month’s draft. He spent two years with the Razorbacks, averaging 16.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game as a sophomore and earning a spot on the SEC All-Defensive Team as well as first team All-SEC honors.
The Bulls will use cap room to make it a four-year deal, with yearly salaries likely to be set at $898,310, $1,517,981, $1,782,621 and $1,930,681.
“He’s a defensive rolling center, high energy, can run the floor,” Bulls executive vice president John Paxson said after the draft. “He’s very athletic. His rebounding numbers, analytically, his shot-blocking numbers were really high.”
The Heat and Pistons are expected to be the top contenders to land Russell Westbrook if the Thunder decide to trade him, according to Sam Amick and Brett Dawson of The Athletic.
Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti will meet this week with Westbrook and his agent, Thad Foucher, to plot out the future for the former MVP. All three were blindsided by Paul George‘s trade request, which was the result of Kawhi Leonard‘s successful lobbying effort to join him on the Clippers.
The Thunder are motivated to move Westbrook, not only because he’s the lone star left in OKC and will make $171MM over the next four years, but also because he plays the same position as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the centerpiece of their return in the George deal.
Miami would like to pair Westbrook with Jimmy Butler and could offer a package built around Goran Dragic, who has one year left on his contract at $19.2MM, and Dion Waiters, who is owed a combined $24.7MM over the next two seasons. Detroit’s offer might include Andre Drummond ($27MM in 2019/20 with a $28.75MM player option the following season), Reggie Jackson (one year left at $18MM) and Tony Snell ($11.39MM next season followed by a $12.18MM player option).
Some executives believe the Rockets could get involved as well, given GM Daryl Morey’s penchant for star chasing. However, pairing Westbrook with James Harden and Chris Paul, two other guards who like to control the ball, may prove awkward, and matching salary wouldn’t be easy. Houston would almost certainly have to part with Clint Capela ($14.9MM next season), Eric Gordon ($14MM), and P.J. Tucker ($8.35MM) in any deal if Paul isn’t included.
Sources with knowledge of Houston’s thinking confirmed to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com that the Rockets have interest in Westbrook. However, one team source described a potential deal as a “long shot,” says MacMahon.
There’s more today on the Westbrook front:
- The Knicks have been mentioned as a possible suitor for Westbrook, but will have to wait until December to make a move, notes Marc Berman of The New York Post. New York no longer has the cap room to absorb Westbrook’s $37.5MM salary for next season after reaching deals with six free agents, and those new players can’t be traded before December 15. If the opportunity is still there, Elfrid Payton, Reggie Bullock, Bobby Portis, Wayne Ellington and Taj Gibson will all have expiring contracts that could interest the Thunder as they try to reduce a league-high tax bill. The Knicks can also offer the 2021 and 2023 first-rounders they acquired from Dallas in the Kristaps Porzingis deal, Berman adds.
- Michael Shapiro of Sports Illustrated mentions the Timberwolves, Celtics and Magic as other possibilities. A swap with Minnesota would be easy if OKC would accept Andrew Wiggins in return, he states, while the Celtics could offer Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown or wait a year and trade newly acquired Kemba Walker. Orlando has been seeking a point guard for years and has a lot of wings and big men to offer.
- The Bulls, Mavericks, Nuggets, Bucks, Spurs and Raptors all have the assets to get involved as well, according to Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com.
The Bulls have waived Shaquille Harrison and Walt Lemon Jr., according to a press release from the team. Chicago needed the cap space to finalize the signings of free agents Thaddeus Young, which is now official, and Tomas Satoransky, who is still waiting to sign his deal. Harrison and Lemon both had non-guaranteed contracts that would have paid them $1,588,231 next season.
Harrison, 25, appeared in 73 games this year, starting 11, after signing with the Bulls last summer. He posted a 6.5/3.0/1.9 line in about 20 minutes per night.
Lemon, 26, got into six games after signing with Chicago in late March. He started the season on a two-way contract with the Celtics, but never played for them before being released in November.