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Bulls Exercise Options On Markkanen, Dunn, Valentine

October 30th, 2018 at 11:57am CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls have exercised their 2019/20 team options on three players, announcing today in a press release that Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn, and Denzel Valentine have all had their salaries guaranteed for next season.

[RELATED: Decisions On 2019/20 Rookie Scale Team Options]

Dunn and Valentine were 2016 draft picks, so their options for 2019/20 are for the fourth and final year of their respective rookie scale contracts. Dunn’s will have a cap charge of $5,348,007, while Valentine’s is worth $3,377,569. Both players will be eligible for rookie scale extensions during the 2019 offseason before entering the last year of their rookie deals. If they don’t sign extensions, they’ll remain on track for restricted free agency in 2020.

Markkanen’s $5,300,400 option is for his third year, meaning the Bulls will have one more option decision to make on his rookie contract next October. He won’t be extension-eligible until 2020.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, all three of these young players are currently injured, with Markkanen sidelined by an elbow injury, Dunn recovering from an MCL sprain, and Valentine battling an ankle issue. Barring setbacks, all three players could get back on the court for Chicago within the next four or five weeks.

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Arcidiacono Excels As Backup Point Guard

October 28th, 2018 at 11:46am CST by Arthur Hill

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg is standing up for associate Jim Boylen after criticism from Jabari Parker, relays Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Boylen sets the team’s defensive schemes, which Parker felt were lacking in Friday’s loss to the Hornets, telling reporters after the game that the Bulls “didn’t adjust” while giving up 135 points.

It’s the first swipe at the coaching staff from Parker, whose stay in Chicago might be short after signing a two-year, $40MM contract with only the first season guaranteed. This is the third year with the Bulls for Boylen, who got his first job as an NBA assistant in 1992.

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Asik's 2019 Salary Won't Be Stretched

October 26th, 2018 at 5:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • Bulls point guard Kris Dunn had no idea how badly he injured his knee until he returned home from Dallas, according to Mark Strotman of NBC Sports Chicago. Dunn will be out 4-6 weeks with an MCL sprain in his left knee. He originally thought it was just a bruise but the pain increased on the flight home on Monday and the knee locked up on him when he returned home. An MRI the next morning revealed the severity of the injury. “I think it’s unlucky. It comes with the game,” Dunn said. “I can either cry about it or try to work my way around it. I’m going to stay positive, be a man about it.”
  • The Bulls decided not to use the stretch provision on the $3MM guarantee for Omer Asik‘s 2019 salary, ESPN’s Bobby Marks confirms (Twitter link). Chicago ate the approximately $11.3MM owed to Asik this season and waived him over the weekend. The team could have chosen to stretch out the $3MM guarantee for next season over a three-year period. However, the $3MM cap hit could be erased entirely if the 32-year-old Asik is deemed medically ineligible to play. Asik is out indefinitely with inflammatory arthritis.
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Deveney: Lopez A Potential Trade Candidate

October 26th, 2018 at 11:34am CST by Luke Adams
  • Robin Lopez (Bulls) and Dewayne Dedmon (Hawks) are unlikely to net first-round picks on the trade market, but they could be decent rental options for teams seeking depth up front, Deveney writes.

    [SOURCE LINK]
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Hardship Provision May Be In Play For Bulls

October 25th, 2018 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Just four games into their season, the Bulls are now missing four key contributors due to injuries, with Bobby Portis and his sprained MCL joining Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn, and Denzel Valentine on the sidelines. With early-season health issues wreaking havoc on Fred Hoiberg‘s starting lineup and rotation, Chicago may get an opportunity to add a player to its roster next week by qualifying for the NBA’s “hardship provision.”

NBA teams can become eligible for a hardship exception when they have at least four players who have missed three consecutive games due to injury or illness, assuming those players are expected to remain sidelined for at least two more weeks.

The Bulls wouldn’t be able to apply for the exception until after Monday’s game in Golden State, at which point Portis will have missed three straight games. Markkanen, Dunn, and Portis all seem very likely to miss at least a couple weeks beyond that, and it’s possible Valentine will too. If so, Chicago would qualify for the exception.

If the Bulls apply for and receive a hardship exception, they wouldn’t gain any extra cap flexibility, but they’d be temporarily granted an extra roster spot. In that scenario, the team could sign a 16th player to its “15-man” NBA roster without waiving anyone.

Again, that roster spot would be temporary, and the Bulls would have to cut that player – or someone else – once they started to get healthier, but the provision could help provide the injury-ravaged squad with a little more depth in the short term.

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Bobby Portis Sprains MCL, Out 4-6 Weeks

October 25th, 2018 at 2:32pm CST by Luke Adams

2:32pm: The Bulls have confirmed that Portis sustained a sprained right MCL, estimating in a press release that he’ll miss the next four to six weeks.

1:56pm: The hits keep coming for the Bulls, who have already lost several players to injuries this season and will now be without another key rotation piece. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), power forward Bobby Portis has been diagnosed with a sprained MCL in his right knee and is expected to miss several weeks of action.

Portis, who suffered the injury on Wednesday night during the fourth quarter of the Bulls’ win over the Hornets, underwent an MRI on Thursday morning to determine the extent of the injury. K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune had previously reported that the club feared Portis would miss at least four weeks with an injury similar to Kris Dunn‘s.

Dunn, who has a sprained MCL of his own, is expected to be on the shelf for four to six weeks. The Bulls are also missing Lauri Markkanen, who will be out until at least mid-November with an elbow injury, and Denzel Valentine, who has been sidelined with an ankle issue.

Although he was expected to open the season as a sixth man for the Bulls, Portis was shifted to the starting lineup after Markkanen went down. He responded by averaging a double-double (10.5 PPG, 10.0 RPG) in Chicago’s first four games while averaging a career-high 28.3 minutes per contest. The 23-year-old failed to reach an extension agreement with Chicago this fall, so he’s playing for his next contract this season — he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency in 2019.

Portis’ injury could mean increased roles for some combination of Wendell Carter, Robin Lopez, and Cristiano Felicio up front. Jabari Parker, who has been coming off the bench at power forward, may also get an opportunity to move back into the starting five, though the Bulls have yet to make any announcement to that effect.

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NBA Trade Candidate Watch: Central Division

October 25th, 2018 at 11:36am CST by Luke Adams

Over the course of the 2018/19 NBA season, up until February’s trade deadline, we’re keeping an eye on potential trade candidates from around the NBA, monitoring their value and exploring the likelihood that they’ll be moved. Each of these looks at possible trade candidates focuses on a specific division, as we zero in on three players from that division.

No team in the NBA’s Central division has played more than five games so far – the Pistons have only played three – but based on contract situations and early-season rotations, some potential trade candidates are already emerging. Let’s take a look at a few of them…

Kyle Korver, G/F
Cleveland Cavaliers
$7.56MM cap hit; partially guaranteed salary in 2019/20

A fixture in the Cavaliers‘ rotation over the last year and a half alongside LeBron James, Korver has seen inconsistent playing time so far in 2018/19. His minutes count in his first four games: 14, 5, 0, and 19.

Korver has said he doesn’t mind sporadic minutes, and it’s too early in the season for the Cavs to go into tank mode and start considering a full-fledged fire sale. Still, there are a number of reasons to expect the 37-year-old to become a trade candidate sooner or later if Cleveland’s struggles continue.

Several playoff contenders figure to be in the market for an outside marksman, and few are more reliable than Korver, who has a .431 career 3PT%. His salary is affordable and his contract is favorable for a short-term investment — next season’s $7.5MM salary is only guaranteed for $3.44MM, meaning any team acquiring him would have the option to keep him for one more year or to cut bait at a minimal cost.

Robin Lopez, C
Chicago Bulls
$14.36MM cap hit; UFA in 2019

Like the Cavaliers, the Bulls don’t look like a legit postseason contender, particularly as the injuries to several key players continue to pile up. It’s too early to give up on this season’s playoff hopes yet, but when that happens, Lopez looks like one of the team’s most obvious trade chips.

The Bulls have Wendell Carter Jr. penciled in as their center of the future, and still need to see what they can get out of Cristiano Felicio, whose pricey contract runs through 2021. For now, Lopez remains a part of the rotation, but his minutes are down (17.7 MPG so far, compared to 26.4 last season) and they may decrease further if and when the club goes all-in on developing its young players.

Lopez is no bargain at $14.36MM, but he’s on an expiring contract and won’t affect a team’s cap flexibility for the summer of 2019. He’s also still just 30 years old and has value as a reliable screen setter and defensive presence.

Matthew Dellavedova, G
Milwaukee Bucks
$9.61MM cap hit; guaranteed salary in 2019/20

If the 4-0 Bucks can build on their hot start, they’ll likely be in the market for upgrades by the time February’s trade deadline rolls around. Dellavedova and John Henson ($11.33MM cap hit) represent the club’s best salary-matching pieces, and Dellavedova’s absence from the rotation makes him the more expendable player of the two.

With one more guaranteed season left on his contract, the veteran guard is a negative asset at this point. But if Milwaukee is willing to attach a draft pick or a young player to Dellavedova’s contract, he could be a part of an offer for a veteran who might better fit the club’s lineup.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Cameron Payne Impressive In Bulls' First Win

October 25th, 2018 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of Kris Dunn‘s MCL injury, Mark Schanowski of NBC Sports Chicago suggested that it was time for the Bulls to spin the point guard roulette wheel again. While he acknowledged that Cameron Payne, Shaquille Harrison, Ryan Arcidiacono, and Tyler Ulis were all options, Schanowski argued that Chicago’s best option at the point might be Zach LaVine, who is most effective with the ball in his hands.

In the Bulls’ first win of the season on Wednesday night, LaVine did handle the ball most in crunch time, but before the game reached that point, it was Payne who enjoyed a breakout performance. As Mark Strotman of NBC Sports Chicago details, Payne followed up a poor first half by making seven 3-pointers in the second half, good for a career-best 21 points.

“It was a huge night for Cam, huge confidence booster,” Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg said. “You know, Cam works as hard as anybody on this team. It’s great to see that hard work pay off and it’s a confidence booster, something he can build on.”

Payne has been plagued by injuries and inconsistency since being acquired by the Bulls at the 2017 trade deadline, but Wednesday’s showing was a step in the right direction, and he should get more opportunities in the coming weeks, with Dunn expected to be sidelined at least another month or so. Payne will be eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end, so he’ll have a chance to improve his stock if he keeps playing well.

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Bulls Surrendered Potential Trade Chip By Waiving Asik

October 24th, 2018 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran center Omer Asik, acquired in last season’s Nikola Mirotic with the Pelicans as a salary-matching piece, was unlikely to play at all this season for the Bulls. Still, Chicago’s decision to release him over the weekend in order to sign Shaquille Harrison was “stunning” to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link), who referred to Asik’s contract one of the best trade pieces in the league.

[RELATED: Bulls sign Shaquille Harrison, cut Omer Asik]

Of course, Asik didn’t have trade value in the way that star players have trade value, but his contract was an intriguing potential trade chip for a couple reasons: It was signed under the league’s previous Collective Bargaining Agreement, and he was owed a partial guarantee of just $3MM on his $11.98MM salary for 2019/20.

Under the league’s new CBA, a team trading a player with an $11.98MM salary with a $3MM partial guarantee would only get to count that contract for $3MM for salary-matching purposes, limiting its appeal in a potential deal. However, if that same contract was signed under the old CBA – like Asik’s – it counts for its full $11.98MM for salary-matching purposes. That would have made it appealing to teams looking to cut costs during the summer of 2019.

For instance, let’s say that the Knicks wanted to make a run at Kevin Durant in the summer of 2019 and needed to move as much salary as possible to clear a maximum-salary slot. Cap rules would have allowed Chicago and New York to swap Courtney Lee (who has a $12.76MM salary for 2019/20) straight up for Asik. The Knicks then could’ve waived Asik, stretching his $3MM partial guarantee across three years and leaving just $1MM on their cap.

The Bulls might not have wanted Lee, and more parts may have been required to make such a deal acceptable for both sides, but that’s just one example of how Asik’s modest partial guarantee – and his old contract – provided some value. That $11.98MM cap hit could be useful for salary matching in all variations of trades and wasn’t a negative asset since it wasn’t guaranteed.

By comparison, a player like Avery Bradley has a contract structure similar to Asik’s for next season ($2MM partial guarantee on a $12.96MM salary), but signed his deal under the league’s current CBA. If the Clippers wanted to trade Bradley after the season, he’d only count for $2MM for salary-matching purposes rather than $12.96MM, making a deal tricky.

It’s possible that Chicago wouldn’t have found any use for Asik on the trade market next summer, especially since the team may be far enough below the cap to take on contracts in trades without matching salaries. Harrison will also certainly help the club more in the short term, and the Bulls may eventually be able to remove Asik’s contract from their cap altogether if he’s deemed medically ineligible to continue his career. Still, it’s somewhat surprising that the team didn’t wait a little longer before deciding to cut bait on him.

With Asik no longer under contract, there are just two notable players who signed contracts under the old CBA and have partial guarantees for next season — one is Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith ($3.87MM guarantee on $15.86MM salary) and the other is Suns forward Ryan Anderson ($15.64MM guarantee on $21.26MM salary). If either of those players is dealt during the summer of 2019, he’d count for his full salary for trade purposes, rather than just his guarantee amount.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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2019/20 Rookie Option Decisions Due In One Week

October 24th, 2018 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

Unlike player and team options on veteran contracts, which generally have to be exercised or declined by the end of June, rookie scale contracts include third- and fourth-year options that teams must decide on a year early. The deadline for those decisions is October 31, which means that clubs have one more week to pick up or turn down those rookie scale options for the 2019/20 season.

While several teams have already announced their rookie scale option decisions for 2019/20, there are 14 clubs that will need to decide one way or the other on those options within the next week.

Below, we’ve listed the outstanding rookie scale option decisions for 2019/20, sorting them by their likelihood of being exercised. The first list features options that are certain to be exercised, such as Ben Simmons‘ or Jayson Tatum‘s. The second list features the rest of the options, which may still be picked up, but aren’t necessarily locks.

Let’s dive in…

Locks to be exercised:

Not necessarily locks to be exercised:

Because rookie scale salaries are typically so affordable, many of the options that we don’t view as locks to be picked up will still be exercised. For instance, even if Labissiere barely has a role in the Kings’ crowded frontcourt at the moment, Sacramento doesn’t have much guaranteed money on its books for 2019/20 and may view a $2,338,847 cap hit for the big man as a worthwhile investment.

Still, many of the players in that second list don’t currently have sizable rotation roles, so teams will have to decide whether it’s worth it to continue trying to develop those players in 2019/20, or if it makes more sense to simply replace them with minimum-salary veterans. That could be an especially tricky question for teams that project to be over the luxury tax line next season — in those cases, every saved dollar matters.

For a full list of the rookie scale options for 2019/20, including the ones that have already been picked up, check out our tracker.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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