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Bulls Notes: Ball, Eversley, DeRozan, Williams

August 21st, 2023 at 10:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lonzo Ball has confirmed he’ll miss the 2023/24 season, but the Bulls point guard expressed optimism that he’ll eventually overcome his knee issues and return to action, he said on the “From the Point by Trae Young podcast” (hat tip to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago).

Ball underwent cartilage transplant surgery in March.

“I just had a really big surgery—hopefully, the last one I ever have to get. It’s a long process. I’m already out this whole next season,” Ball said. “When I first got hurt, we didn’t really know what it was. I was seeing all type of different doctors and stuff. I was just kind of going up and down. That was really hard for me because I just didn’t know what the next day was going to be like. At least now, I got the surgery. We got a plan moving forward. We’ve been on plan. I’m on track.”

Chicago has already been granted a disabled player exception worth $10.23MM due to Ball’s inability to play in 2023/24.

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While many observers believe the Bulls’ current core group has a limited ceiling, general manager Marc Eversley says the front office has faith in the roster they’ve assembled. “I think for us as a front office, how we see our ceiling may be different than others,” he told Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “And the way we have operated is we’re going to operate this with our beliefs. We’ve all been to different places. We’ve seen what success looks like. We can’t run this operation based on what people may think the outcome may be. We trust each other.”
In the same interview, Eversley said they’d like to work out another contract agreement with DeMar DeRozan, who is heading into his walk year. “I would love DeMar to be part of this program long term. Let’s see how that plays out and what that looks like going forward,” he said. “When those conversations take place, we’ll speak about that more when that happens. But we hope Deebo’s back. He’s been an integral part of this program’s success. We hope he is here long term.” DeRozan will remain extension-eligible through next June 30.
Eversley also appeared on the Bulls Talk Podcast and hinted that the front office is taking a wait-and-see approach regarding power forward Patrick Williams‘ future, according to Johnson. Williams is eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason. “He has shown flashes over the first three years. I want to see him show more instances of flashes, more consistent,” Eversley said. “He’s got it in him. A lot of that comes with growth off of the court. And I can tell you he’s starting to grow. He’s starting to get it. It’s starting to click. And when he puts it together—and he will put it together—we might have something special.”

Torrey Craig To Bring “More Edge” To Bulls

August 21st, 2023 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

The Bulls landed Torrey Craig in free agency this summer, but it wasn’t their first attempt to sign the defensive-minded forward. In an appearance on the Bulls Talk podcast, Craig tells K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago that he had previous discussions with executive vice president Arturas Karnisovas.

“Actually, the last couple free agencies, me and AK have been talking. And we just couldn’t get it done,” Craig said. “We kind of knew what kind of pieces he wanted and what (free agent addition Jevon Carter and I) could bring and what kind of team we had the potential to be, especially with the guys who are already here. We want to be one of those tough, hard-nosed, defensive-minded, competitive teams all year round.”

Johnson notes that Karnisovas worked for the Nuggets when Craig got his first NBA opportunity in 2017. After playing three seasons in Australia, Craig joined Denver’s Summer League team. He was able to earn a two-way contract and then signed a standard deal the following offseason.

Craig went on to establish himself as a valuable NBA player, starting 60 games last season with the Suns. Entering free agency for the third time in four years, he was finally able to agree to terms with Chicago, signing a two-year, $5.4MM deal that includes a player option for the second season.

“That’s all I needed to get my foot in the door,” Craig said of his Summer League experience with the Nuggets. “Ever since, I’ve just been making a name for myself and trying to impact winning on every team I’ve been on. And I’ve been fortunate to be able to do that.”

Craig sees parallels between his Phoenix team and the Bulls, who have a pair of elite scorers in Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan. He has made a career out of guarding that type of player and said he can offer tips to both LaVine and DeRozan about what defenders are trying to make them do.

Craig plans to fill the same role in Chicago that he did with the Suns, focusing on defense, rebounding and making life easier for the stars. He also hopes to bring a more aggressive attitude to the team.

“I was telling Coach (Billy Donovan) one day, just watching the games and seeing how much talent they had and some of the games they would lose and seeing how I could contribute and bring a little bit more toughness, a little bit more edge, a little bit more competitiveness to some of those games to be more consistent,” Craig said. “That definitely played a factor in my decision to come here.”

DeRozan Ranks As Most Valuable Trade Asset

August 20th, 2023 at 5:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

DeMar DeRozan ranks as the Bulls’ most valuable trade asset among the team’s core group of players, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times opines. DeRozan, a highly-respected veteran scorer with an expiring contract, could be a hot property for a team with championship aspirations. Nikola Vucevic, despite the fact he signed an extension, could bring more in a deal at the trade deadline than Zach LaVine because of his more affordable contract, Cowley writes.
In a separate story, Cowley weighs in on five key games for the Bulls during this upcoming season. The last of the games on his list is the April 1 contest with the Hawks, who played three highly entertaining, hotly-contested games with Chicago last season.

Bulls GM Says Keeping Nikola Vucevic Was “No. 1 Goal”

August 19th, 2023 at 11:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Bulls were determined to re-sign their free agents this summer and center Nikola Vucevic was the top priority, general manager Marc Eversley told K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.

Appearing on the Bulls Talk podcast, Eversley discussed the need for continuity, especially regarding Vucevic, who has been with Chicago since a trade deadline deal in 2021. Vucevic opted to forgo free agency and accepted a three-year, $60MM extension.

“I’m excited for Vooch,” Eversley said. “There’s not many starting centers in the NBA. So if Vooch were to go away, how would you replace him? Those options were just not appealing to us. So retaining him became the No. 1 goal of the offseason.”

Vucevic will turn 33 in October, but he’s coming off a productive season. He played 82 games for the first time in his career and averaged 17.6 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per night while shooting 52% from the floor and 34.9% from beyond the arc.

The Bulls also re-signed guards Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu, setting up a battle for playing time in a crowded backcourt. They added Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig as well to cap off a productive free agent session.

On the first night of free agency, White committed to a three-year, $36MM deal that could reach $40MM with incentives. He’s coming off the worst scoring season of his career at 9.7 PPG, but the Bulls are happy with other parts of his game.

“Coby White had, I thought, a terrific year last year. I think the growth he has shown over the last three years has been second to nobody on the roster,” Eversley said. “I think his ability to shoot (and) he’s much more comfortable handling it now. He doesn’t get pressured or panic anymore.

“He has found his voice in the locker room. He has become a quiet leader. We’ve seen growth and development from him. And that’s why it was critical to bring him back.”

Dosunmu, who started 51 games in his second NBA season, signed a three-year, $21MM contract as a restricted free agent. He earned second-team All-Rookie honors in 2022, but experienced a decline in his three-point shooting last season.

“He would not argue with me; he didn’t have quite the second year he thought he might’ve,” Eversley said. “Call it a sophomore slump. But we’ve seen him in the Advocate Center and how hard he has worked from the end of the season to today and there’s nothing but good things that are going to happen to him.”

Taylor Might Be Final Offseason Move

August 18th, 2023 at 9:26pm CST by Rory Maher

Re-signing forward Terry Taylor to a two-year, minimum-salary contract might be the final offseason move for the Bulls, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Having Taylor and Carlik Jones on non-guaranteed deals creates financial flexibility for the Bulls, who now have 15 players on standard deals and all three two-way slots filled, Johnson notes. It’s worth noting that Chicago is virtually certain to add some players on Exhibit 10 deals ahead of training camp, though those are often geared more toward filling out the G League roster.

Contract Details: Hart, T. Taylor, Mavericks

August 16th, 2023 at 9:06am CST by Luke Adams

Josh Hart‘s four-year extension with the Knicks, previously reported to include a fourth-year team option, has very straightforward terms, as Ian Begley of SNY.tv writes.

The deal, which begins at $18,144,000 (the maximum 40% raise on Hart’s $12.96MM salary for 2023/24) is fully guaranteed for the first three seasons and doesn’t include any performances bonuses.

The only detail slightly different than anticipated is that the annual raise between years one and two isn’t quite for the full 8%, so Hart’s four-year total is approximately $80.9MM instead of $81.3MM. The guaranteed portion of the contract extension comes in at $58.54MM.

Begley believes the contract will ultimately be judged based on how healthy Hart stays over the next few years and how much success the Knicks have during that time, since the forward seems unlikely to significantly improve his production in any specific area. The average annual value of Hart’s deal lands between the new contracts signed by Dillon Brooks and Caris LeVert, Begley notes.

Here are a few more details on recently completed NBA contracts:

Terry Taylor‘s new deal with the Bulls is a two-year, minimum-salary contract, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. It’s currently non-guaranteed, but Taylor would receive a partial guarantee worth $350K if he lasts through the first day of the regular season. That partial guarantee would increase to $700K if he remains under contract through December 15, Hoops Rumors has learned. Taylor would be assured of his full salary for 2023/24 if he isn’t waived by the league-wide guarantee date in January and would receive his full ’24/25 salary if he isn’t waived on or before July 7, 2024.
The trio of players signed by the Mavericks on Monday – Greg Brown, Joe Wieskamp, and Jordan Walker – all received Exhibit 10 contracts, Hoops Rumors has learned. All three will receive bonuses worth $75K if they’re waived before the season and then spend at least 60 days with Dallas’ G League affiliate.
In case you missed it, Jordan Miller‘s two-way contract with the Clippers covers two seasons, as we relayed on Tuesday evening. Miller is one of seven players to sign a two-year two-way deal this summer, as our tracker shows.

Bulls Re-Sign Forward Terry Taylor

August 14th, 2023 at 7:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Bulls have signed restricted two-way free agent Terry Taylor to a standard contract, the team tweets.

Taylor had been just one of four restricted two-way free agents who remained unsigned, as our free agent tracker shows.

The 23-year-old was waived by the Pacers after being thrown into the four-team Kevin Durant blockbuster at February’s trade deadline. The Bulls signed him to a two-way deal later that month.

Taylor appeared in 59 games with Indiana over the past two seasons, including nine starts, after going undrafted in 2021 out of Austin Peay. The 6’4” player, listed as a forward despite his height, came off the bench in five games for Chicago. Overall, he has averaged 6.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 15.3 minutes during his 64-game NBA career. He also appeared in eight G League contests last season.

The addition of Taylor gives the Bulls 15 players on standard contracts, though Carlik Jones has a non-guaranteed contract and Taylor’s deal also seems unlikely to be fully guaranteed.

Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround: Bulls’ Offseason

August 13th, 2023 at 6:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

There was quite a bit of speculation what the Bulls would do this summer, given their lack of progress the last couple of seasons despite making major trades and free agent signings.

Following four straight losing seasons, the Bulls got knocked out of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs in 2022. Last season, they had a losing record but qualified for the play-in tournament. After knocking out the Raptors, Chicago got bounced by eventual conference champion Miami.

Fans who were hoping for major changes or a full rebuild were disappointed. Chicago trudged along this summer by re-signing a number of its own free agents and adding a couple of role players.

Center Nikola Vucevic was re-signed on a three-year contract. Ditto for guards Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu. Backup center Andre Drummond opted in to the final year of his contract.

They made a couple of under-the-radar free signings in Jevon Carter, who will compete for the starting point guard job with Lonzo Ball out for the season, and backup forward Torrey Craig.

Barring an unexpected blockbuster move, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Williams will return to their respective starting spots.

Perhaps familiarity and continuity will help Chicago take the next step. Perhaps Carter, a backup in Milwaukee, will form a solid point guard duo with Alex Caruso. Perhaps this will be the season Williams lives up to his draft status.

That brings us to today’s topic: How do you feel about the Bulls’ offseason approach? Did they do the right thing by essentially staying the course and tweaking the roster or should they have made significant changes?

Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.

Five Two-Way Restricted Free Agents Remain Unsigned

August 10th, 2023 at 2:37pm CST by Rory Maher

As of July 18, there were 12 two-way restricted free agents who had yet to sign new contracts.

Over the past three-plus weeks, six of those players — Lester Quinones (Warriors), Kendall Brown (Pacers), Trevor Keels (Knicks), Duane Washington (Knicks), Dominick Barlow (Spurs) and Ron Harper Jr. (Raptors) — returned to their clubs on two-way deals.

Keels and Washington were subsequently waived to create roster space for Nathan Knight and Dylan Windler, respectively. Washington re-signed with New York on a training camp contract, while Keels is an NBA free agent (the Knicks retained his G League rights).

A seventh player — Jeff Dowtin — returned to Toronto on a one-year, minimum-salary contract that is fully non-guaranteed. He would receive $900K if he’s not waived on or before October 21, but may face an uphill battle to claim a roster spot, as the Raptors now have 15 players with guaranteed deals on their roster.

That leaves a total of five two-way restricted free agents available, as our up-to-date list shows. Those players are as follows:

Trent Forrest, G, Hawks
Theo Maledon, G, Hornets
Jamal Cain, F, Heat
Matt Ryan, F, Timberwolves
Terry Taylor, F, Bulls

Of the five-player group, Maledon had the largest role last season. The 34th pick of the 2020 draft appeared in 44 games for Charlotte in 2022/23, averaging 6.7 points, 3.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 19.4 minutes per game.

If they’re willing to accept their one-year, two-way qualifying offers, four of these five players seemingly have an easy path back to the teams that hold their rights — the Hawks, Hornets, Heat and Wolves all have an open two-way slot available.

That is not true for the Bulls, however — all three of their two-way slots are filled. If Taylor accepts his QO, Chicago might just release him, similar to what happened with Washington and Keels.

Some two-way RFAs have managed to earn standard contracts this offseason. Cain has reportedly been discussing that possibility with rival teams, but Miami has been reluctant to give him a standard deal.

It will be interesting to see if any of the five players are able to land a standard contract instead of another two-way deal. However, being RFAs hurts their leverage to negotiate with rival teams, and offer sheets for two-way restricted free agents essentially never happen.

DeMar DeRozan Still A Big Believer In Patrick Williams

August 6th, 2023 at 8:58am CST by Luke Adams

While it’s unclear if former No. 4 overall pick Patrick Williams has shown enough in his first three NBA seasons to warrant a rookie scale extension from the Bulls this offseason, teammate DeMar DeRozan remains a big believer in Williams’ potential, as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times details.