Chicago Bulls Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rockets, Bulls To Meet With Kevon Looney

June 29th, 2019 at 7:32pm CST by Arthur Hill

7:32pm: Looney also has a meeting with the Bulls tomorrow, Medina tweets.

7:02pm: The Rockets will meet with free agent center Kevon Looney tomorrow, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. Houston officials are delivering their free agency pitches in Los Angeles, which is where Looney will also talk to the Warriors and possibly several other teams, according to Mark Medina of The San Jose Mercury News (Twitter link).

Looney, 23, emerged as a rotation player for Golden State in his fourth NBA season, averaging 6.3 PPG and 5.2 RPG in 18.5 minutes per night. Coach Steve Kerr called him a “foundational piece” during the playoffs, Stein recalls (Twitter link), and that’s especially true now that starting center DeMarcus Cousins is a free agent.

The Rockets need help in the middle after Nene announced today that he will opt out of the final season of his contract. Houston also reportedly has a deal in place involving starting center Clint Capela if the team can land Jimmy Butler from the Sixers in a sign-and-trade.

The Celtics and Pelicans are other teams that have shown interest in Looney.

Free Agent Rumors: Randle, Gibson, Bullock, Bulls

June 29th, 2019 at 4:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Kings will be among the teams in pursuit of Pelicans forward Julius Randle, tweets Jordan Schultz of ESPN. He cites the Nets, Knicks and Bulls as other expected suitors.

Randle, 24, had a career-best season after signing a one-year deal with New Orleans last summer. He averaged 21.4 points and 8.7 rebounds in 73 games while shooting 52% from the field. He also improved as a long-distance shooter, hitting 34% of his shots from 3-point range.

Here are more rumors as we move to within 24 hours of the start of free agency:

The Timberwolves will have plenty of competition for Taj Gibson, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who lists the Clippers, Nets, Bucks, Bulls, Warriors, Raptors, Trail Blazers, Hornets and Lakers as having interest in the veteran forward (Twitter link). Gibson has averaged 11.5 PPG and 6.9 RPG during his two years in Minnesota.
There’s mutual interest between the Knicks and shooting specialist Reggie Bullock, according to Ian Begley of SNY.TV. Bullock averaged 11.3 points per game while splitting last season between the Pistons and Lakers.
The Bulls are looking for a point guard, but want to limit the contract to two years, reports K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. That may take them out of the running for Malcolm Brogdon or Patrick Beverley, Johnson notes, but he cites other options such as Cory Joseph, Tyus Jones and George Hill who might be willing to accept a shorter contract. The Bulls are counting on first-round pick Coby White to take over the position within two years and want the free agent’s contract to expire in the summer of 2021 at the same time as Otto Porter‘s and Cristiano Felicio‘s.

Lowe’s Latest: Walker, Brogdon, Mavs, Rubio, Butler

June 28th, 2019 at 8:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics might be the frontrunner for Kemba Walker‘s services but devoting most of their cap space to the All-Star point guard would leave them without any proven frontcourt players and limited ways to acquire them, ESPN’s Zach Lowe writes in an in-depth look at free agency. The addition of Walker would force coach Brad Stevens to use either Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum or Gordon Hayward at power forward, Lowe notes. Walker also ran more pick-and-rolls with the Hornets than Kyrie Irving did with the Celtics, yet Irving was sometimes accused of being a ball hog, Lowe adds.

Here are some other interesting tidbits from Lowe’s column:

Bucks restricted free agent Malcolm Brogdon will lose a suitor if the Celtics ink Walker. The Suns, Bulls, Mavericks and Pacers could potentially extend Brogdon an offer sheet but some teams are concerned about his foot issues.
The Mavericks are not looking to sign any high-level free agents.
The Pacers are looking to make a run at point guard Ricky Rubio. They are also likely to let power forward Thaddeus Young walk and go with a frontcourt of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner. Indiana rejected trade offers for Turner at the draft.
The Heat could get involved in the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes via a sign-and-trade.
The Nets have no interest in doing a sign-and-trade with the Timberwolves involving restricted free agent D’Angelo Russell if it means taking back Jeff Teague or Andrew Wiggins.

Bucks To Waive George Hill

June 28th, 2019 at 3:19pm CST by Luke Adams

As expected, the Bucks will release George Hill, putting him on track to become an unrestricted free agent, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The final year of Hill’s contract in 2019/20 featured a $18MM salary, but only $1MM of that figure was guaranteed. By cutting the veteran guard before July 1, the Bucks will avoid having that full guarantee hit their cap for next season.

According to Charania, the Bucks are working to find the space to re-sign Hill, if possible. That suggests they won’t stretch his $1MM cap hit, since doing so would make them ineligible to sign him for 2019/20.

After trading away Tony Snell, the Bucks currently project to have about $13MM in cap room, as I noted in my preview of Milwaukee’s offseason this morning. However, the team is expected to use that room to try to re-sign Brook Lopez before going over the cap to lock up Khris Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon.

The Bucks could open up additional cap room for Hill by waiving and stretching Jon Leuer or by trading away Ersan Ilyasova without taking back salary. Alternately, the team could use its current cap room to try to bring back Hill if Lopez signs elsewhere.

If the Bucks aren’t able to re-sign Hill, he should draw interest from several other teams. He had a strong postseason run in Milwaukee, averaging 11.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 2.8 APG with a .534/.417/.818 shooting line in 15 games (26.3 MPG). The Bulls are one team with interest, per K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune (Twitter link).

Latest On Malcolm Brogdon

June 28th, 2019 at 12:07pm CST by Luke Adams

League executives believe a team may look to pry Malcolm Brogdon away from the Bucks by putting together an offer sheet that starts at a high number and descends in later seasons, according to Shelburne and Windhorst. A player option and various bonuses could also be added to such an offer sheet, the ESPN duo adds, identifying the Bulls, Suns, Mavericks, and Celtics (if they don’t get Kemba Walker) as possible suitors for Brogdon.

[SOURCE LINK]

Kings Interested In Patrick Beverley

June 27th, 2019 at 10:27pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Kings are interested in Patrick Beverley, a source tells Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Beverley would help take the pressure off of De’Aaron Fox, serving as the point guard’s backup.

Beverley is reportedly seeking a deal in the three-year, $40MM range. The Kings should have no problem accommodating that type of contract, as the team has just under $53MM in guaranteed salaries on the books for next season.

The Mavericks, Bulls, Clippers, and Lakers are all also expected to have interested in Beverley. Most of those teams seem to have some sort of connection between them and the point guard. Beverley is from Chicago. He shares an agent with Mavs star Luka Doncic and he played in Los Angeles this past season.

Beverley made slightly more than $5MM last season and will almost certainly see a raise on his annual salary next season.

Patrick Beverley Reportedly Seeking Three Years, $40MM

June 27th, 2019 at 10:24am CST by Luke Adams

Free agent point guard Patrick Beverley is said to be seeking a three-year deal in the $40MM range, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN (via Twitter). According to MacMahon, the Mavericks, Bulls, Lakers, and Clippers are expected to be among the suitors for Beverley.

Although Beverley earned just over $5MM last season, it’s no surprise that he’ll be seeking a substantial raise. ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Bobby Marks recently suggested that the point guard would likely earn more than the mid-level ($9.25MM), with Marks predicting that Beverley’s annual salary could end up as high as $14-15MM. A three-year, $40MM contract would be worth about $13.3MM annually.

The Mavericks have previously been cited as a probable suitor for Beverley, with one report suggesting that the two sides viewed one another as a “perfect fit.” As MacMahon notes, Beverley’s agent Bill Duffy also represents Luka Doncic and is “intrigued” by the possibility of pairing his two clients in Dallas. The Mavs project to have more than $29MM in cap space.

The Bulls and Lakers have also been linked to Beverley, with reports indicating that there’s mutual interest between the veteran point guard and his hometown team in Chicago. The Bulls project to have about $23MM in cap room and reportedly want to use some of it on a point guard. The Lakers’ situation remains very much in flux, but Beverley would make sense if the club plans to split up its cap room (likely $24-32MM) on two or three players.

The Clippers, of course, would have interest in bringing back Beverley after he averaged 7.6 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 3.8 APG with a .407/.397/.780 and great defense in 78 games for the team last season. Like the Lakers though, they’ll be pursuing bigger fish, so there may be timing issues if Beverley wants to make a quick decision.

Charania’s Latest: CP3, Klay, Harris, RHJ, Randle, More

June 26th, 2019 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

League sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic that Chris Paul never demanded a trade from the Rockets, but suggested at season’s end that he’d understand if the club decided to go in a different direction. According to Charania, Houston told Paul it remained committed to him, and he has reciprocated that commitment.

While Paul and James Harden haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, Charania hears that the two Rockets guards have been communicating since the season ended and had a positive conversation on Father’s Day.

Even if the Rockets wanted to move Paul, there would likely be no market for him, as the Rockets discovered when they quietly gauged his value in recent weeks, Charania writes.

Charania’s latest round-up at The Athletic includes several other noteworthy tidbits on 2019’s upcoming free agent period, so let’s pass along some highlights…

The Warriors and Klay Thompson will meet in Los Angeles at the start of free agency, per Charania. While Charania – like ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski – has heard that Thompson could speak to the Clippers if talks with Golden State break down, the Warriors and Thompson’s camp expect a quick agreement if the team puts a five-year, maximum-salary offer on the table.
After Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer named the Clippers as a possible suitor for Tobias Harris, Charania says the same thing, noting that the two sides still have a good relationship. Charania also adds the Pelicans – who now have significant cap room – to the list of teams expected to express interest in Harris.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who didn’t receive a qualifying offer from Brooklyn, is expected to draw interest from the Suns, Timberwolves, and Rockets as an unrestricted free agent, reports Charania.
The Bulls, Knicks, and Nets are viewed as potential suitors for Julius Randle, sources tell Charania.
Teams in need of some help at the point guard spot – including the Suns, Bulls, Wizards, and Kings – have shown interest in Cory Joseph, says Charania.
If the Knicks miss out on their top free agent targets, they’ll plan on trying to sign “high-level rotation players” to one- or two-year deals, according to Charania, who suggests that Celtics RFA-to-be Terry Rozier may be one target.

Bulls Receive Cap Relief For Omer Asik

June 26th, 2019 at 12:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has approved the Bulls‘ request to remove $3MM in dead money from Omer Asik‘s contract from their cap for the 2019/20 season, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Asik, who was acquired by the Bulls along with a first-round pick in their 2018 trade with the Pelicans in exchange for Nikola Mirotic, appeared in four games at the end of the 2017/18 season for Chicago. However, he was ruled out indefinitely due to inflammatory arthritis at the start of training camp last fall, and hasn’t played at all since then. Asik was also diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2017.

If a player is diagnosed with an ailment believed to be career-ending, his team is eligible to apply for cap relief one year after he last appeared in a game, which the Bulls did in April. An independent physician (or a Fitness to Play panel) subsequently ruled that it would be a medically unacceptable risk for Asik to return to action. The 32-year-old center will still receive his remaining salary, but it won’t count against Chicago’s cap.

As a result of the move, the Bulls project to have just below $23MM in cap room available this summer. According to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune (via Twitter), the extra cap flexibility won’t change Chicago’s plans — the club wants to split its cap room on a couple free agents and then use its room exception on a third player.

Besides Asik, Chris Bosh, Nikola Pekovic, and Mirza Teletovic are some of the other players who have suffered career-ending injuries or illnesses and had their salaries removed from their teams’ caps in recent years.

Arcidiacono To Get Qualifying Offer From Bulls

June 24th, 2019 at 5:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Bulls will extend a qualifying offer to guard Ryan Arcidiacono but don’t plan to give one to Wayne Selden, Cody Westerlund of 670TheScore.com tweets.

In his second season with the Bulls, Arcidiacono appeared in 81 games and started 32, averaging 6.7 PPG and 3.3 APG in 24.2 MPG while shooting 37.3% from long range. His qualifying offer is a modest $1,818,486 and the Bulls, who hold his Early Bird rights, can now match any offer for the 6’3” Villanova product.

Selden appeared in 43 games, including 13 starts, with the Bulls after being acquired in early January from the Grizzlies. The Kansas alum averaged 8.0 PPG and 1.7 APG in 22.9 MPG. His qualifying offer was $1,931,189 but now he’ll head into unrestricted free agency unless the Bulls have a last-minute change of heart.

By making efforts to retain Arcidiacono and drafting point guard Coby White, Kris Dunn‘s status on the team is all the more precarious.