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Andre Drummond Finds “Fun” In Changing Teams

August 21st, 2022 at 11:58am CST by Arthur Hill

Andre Drummond may have entered a journeyman phase of his NBA career, but he’s trying to enjoy the experience, writes Mike Anthony of The New Haven Register.

Drummond signed a two-year contract with the Bulls this summer that includes a $3.36MM player option for the 2023/24 season. The 29-year-old center played for the Sixers and Nets last season, and Chicago will be his fifth team since 2020 after spending his first seven-and-a-half years with the Pistons.

“It’s like a field trip,” Drummond said Saturday during a visit to Connecticut for a youth basketball program. “I’ve moved around a lot. But I just control what I can control. For me, it’s kind of fun. You’ve got to look at it as a fun journey. Being in one place eight straight years, I loved Detroit. Detroit gave me the career I have today. To see different cities and be with different organizations, I’ve taken it as a fun time, experiencing different cultures.”

Drummond is coming off a disjointed season in which he had to adjust to a different role halfway through. He was comfortable as a backup to Joel Embiid in Philadelphia, but he was sent to Brooklyn in February as part of the James Harden deal. He became the Nets’ starting center and posted 11.8 points and 10.3 rebounds in 24 games despite playing just 22.3 minutes per night.

Drummond hopes to have several more years in the NBA and wants to keep playing as long as he can. The two-time All-Star has led the league in rebounding four times, and he told Anthony that he would like to be remembered as the best rebounder in the history of the league.

“I think I’m already there,” he said. “I’m on my way. By the time I retire, I’ll go down as the best rebounder ever — if not already.”

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Examining 10 Season-Defining Games For Bulls

August 20th, 2022 at 1:44pm CST by JD Shaw
  • Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic examines 10 games that will define the Bulls‘ season. The first game on Mayberry’s list is October 19’s season-opener against the Heat, which will be played in Miami. The team lost all four of its games to the Heat last season. Miami finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference last season (53-29), while Chicago was 46-36.
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More Than 30 NBA Players On Track To Suit Up For EuroBasket

August 18th, 2022 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

The first EuroBasket tournament in five years will tip off in two weeks and there are currently 34 NBA players on track to participate in the event, representing 17 different countries, according to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net.

EuroBasket is a 24-team international basketball competition also known as the European Basketball Championship. It historically took place every two years, but that gap was recently adjusted to four years, emulating the FIBA World Cup schedule.

The last EuroBasket tournament was played in 2017 — the next one had been scheduled for 2021, but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. As a result, after being played every two years since 1947, it has now been five years since the last EuroBasket tournament, easily the longest layoff since World War II.

It’s possible that some NBA players will be cut from their teams’ rosters or will have to drop out due to injuries or personal reasons before the event begins on September 1, but in general enthusiasm to participate in the long-awaited event appears high.

Here’s the list of NBAers currently set to play in EuroBasket, per Eurohoops:

There are also multiple NBA free agents on EuroBasket rosters, including French swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and German guard Dennis Schröder.

A number of young NBA players, such as 2022 draftees Jeremy Sochan and Nikola Jovic, have dropped out to focus on getting ready for the 2022/23 season, while others, including Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia) and Frank Ntilikina (France), were ruled out due to injuries.

Round robin play will begin on September 1, with each team facing the other five clubs in its group once. The top four teams in each group will advance to a 16-team bracket that begins on September 10. The final will take place on September 18, just over a week before NBA training camps get underway.

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Bulls Have Just 14 Games On National TV

August 17th, 2022 at 7:31pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • The Bulls will only have 14 nationally televised games — seven on ESPN, three on TNT and four on NBA TV — which Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic sees as a disappointing number for a playoff team in a major market. Examining Chicago’s schedule, Mayberry notes that a lot of conference tests will come early, with 12 of the Bulls’ first 13 games against Eastern teams.
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Bulls Sign Carlik Jones To Exhibit 10 Contract

August 16th, 2022 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls have signed guard Carlik Jones to a training camp contract, as tweeted by Keith Smith of Spotrac and confirmed by Jones himself.

The deal is a one-year, non-guaranteed contract that includes Exhibit 10 language, Hoops Rumors has learned. That means it could be converted into a two-way contract before the regular season begins or it could put Jones in line for a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with the Windy City Bulls, Chicago’s G League affiliate.

Jones, 24, went undrafted out of Louisville in 2021 and spent most of his first professional season with the Texas Legends, Dallas’ G League team. He made the All-NBAGL Third Team and the All-NBAGL Rookie Team by averaging 21.1 PPG, 7.5 APG, and 4.7 RPG in 33 regular season G League contests (35.6 MPG).

Jones also signed a 10-day contract with the Mavericks and another with the Nuggets, appearing in five NBA games as a rookie. He subsequently suited up for the Bulls in last month’s Las Vegas Summer League, registering 11.6 PPG, 6.2 APG, and 2.2 SPG with a scorching hot .548/.667/.846 shooting line in five appearances (24.7 MPG).

Chicago is carrying 15 players on guaranteed contracts, so there likely won’t be room for Jones on the regular season roster. However, the team has one two-way slot open and its only current two-way player, Justin Lewis, is facing ACL surgery, meaning there may be a path to a two-way deal for Jones.

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Bulls Confirm Justin Lewis Will Undergo Surgery On ACL

August 16th, 2022 at 3:35pm CST by Luke Adams

Bulls rookie forward Justin Lewis has injured the ACL in his right knee, the team confirmed today in a press release. According to the announcement, Lewis will undergo surgery at some point in the coming weeks and will be out indefinitely.

Lewis’ knee injury was first reported last Thursday by K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, who said at the time that there was concern about the possibility of an ACL tear. The Bulls technically didn’t confirm in their statement that Lewis’ ACL is torn, but the fact that he’s going under the knife and being ruled out indefinitely strongly suggests that’s the diagnosis.

It’s a brutal blow for the former Marquette standout, who caught on with Chicago on a two-way contract this summer after going undrafted. Lewis had a breakout sophomore season in 2021/22, averaging 16.8 PPG and 7.9 RPG in 32 games (32.2 MPG) for the Golden Eagles. He played for the Bulls’ Summer League team in Las Vegas last month before injuring his knee last week.

While the Bulls didn’t announce a specific timeline for Lewis’ return to the court, ACL tears typically sideline NBA players for a full year. If Lewis does indeed have a torn ACL, it’s unlikely we’ll see him in action until the 2023/24 season.

It’s unclear whether the Bulls will keep Lewis under contract all season or whether they’ll waive him and use that two-way slot on another player, given that he’s only on a one-year deal. If he’s released, the 20-year-old would likely be given the opportunity to remain around the team and use the Bulls’ facilities during his rehab process.

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Giannis: “Everybody Would Love To Play For Chicago”

August 15th, 2022 at 2:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls have won just three playoff games in the last seven seasons, but they’re still viewed as a marquee franchise and a desirable landing spot by Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Highlighting the organization’s six championships and the hugely successful career that Michael Jordan enjoyed in Chicago, Antetokounmpo praised the Bulls during an appearance on The Sports Zone on Fox 32 Chicago (video link) when asked about someday playing for the club.

“I think anybody you ask that question that plays basketball, if he said no, he would be a liar,” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s a team that won multiple championships; it’s a team that one of the greatest players, if not the greatest player who ever played this game, played for. So it’s a no-brainer. Everybody would love to play for Chicago.”

Giannis is under contract with the Bucks for three more seasons, with a player option for a fourth year, and has shown no inclination to leave Milwaukee. But the two-time MVP drove his point about the Bulls home by suggesting that he wouldn’t close the door on one day playing in Chicago himself.

“Down the line, you never know. You never know how life brings it, maybe I play for Chicago,” Antetokounmpo said. “But right now I’m committed to Milwaukee.”

The Bulls have been a major player in free agency over the last two summers. After landing forward DeMar DeRozan and guard Lonzo Ball in blockbuster sign-and-trade deals a year ago, the team locked up Zach LaVine this offseason to a five-year, $215MM contract, the richest deal in franchise history.

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Eastern Notes: Durant, Bulls, Micic, Giannis

August 14th, 2022 at 9:29pm CST by JD Shaw

Nets superstar Kevin Durant has apologized for comments he made about disliking playing for former Thunder coach Billy Donovan, but the Bulls still probably don’t have the assets to trade for him, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Donovan coached Durant in Oklahoma City during the 2015/16 season.

The Bulls can offer DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Patrick Williams and draft capital for Durant, as Cowley notes, but the Nets likely wouldn’t be interested. Brooklyn is reportedly seeking a historic haul for Durant, an All-NBA forward who has four seasons left on his contract.

While Chicago probably won’t find a way to enter the Durant sweepstakes, the team did bolster its bench this offseason by signing veterans Goran Dragic and Andre Drummond, both of whom played for the Nets last season. The club dealt with several injuries and finished with the sixth-best record in the East at 46-36 last season.

There’s more out of the Eastern Conference tonight:

  • Sean Deveney of Heavy.com examines Vasilije Micic‘s situation and why he may have decided against making the move to the NBA. Micic, whose draft rights are held by the Thunder, registered trade interest from multiple NBA teams, including the Bulls, as Deveney notes, but ultimately chose to stay in Turkey. The 28-year-old could still join the NBA down the road.
  • Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is still hungry to accomplish much more during his career, as Kurt Helin of NBC Sports writes. Antetokounmpo is entering his 10th NBA season, owning one championship ring, two MVP awards and many more accolades to date. “I’m an old soul,” Antetokounmpo said as part of a larger quote. “Like, in my mind I feel like I’ve been a vet five years now. But like my body… I have so much energy. I’m so hungry to accomplish more. I want to go out there and help you know my team in the best way possible. And a lot of people know that I’m a winner. I love to win. I love to go out there and leave everything on the court.”
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Bulls Rookie Justin Lewis Injures Knee

August 11th, 2022 at 10:06pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Rookie Bulls two-way player Justin Lewis injured his knee during a workout, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. The exact extent of the damage is not yet known, but sources inform Johnson that the team is worried the 6’7″ forward out of Marquette may have torn his ACL.

Johnson notes that Chicago staffers had been optimistic about Lewis’ ability to help the Bulls as a rookie, despite not having a spot on the team’s standard 15-man roster. The athletic forward boasts the physical tools to be a solid defender at the NBA level, and had also developed into a volume long-range shooter during his second college season, converting 34.9% of his 5.2 triples a night.

Lewis averaged 16.8 PPG on 44% shooting, 7.9 RPG and 1.7 APG while being named to the 2021/22 All-Big East First Team during his final season with Marquette. Lewis posted more modest numbers while playing for the Bulls’ Summer League team in Las Vegas this year, averaging 7.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG and 0.8 BPG across 22.5 MPG.

Though the 20-year-old had been projected to have his name called on draft night in 2022, he instead went undrafted, then quickly agreed to terms with the Bulls on a two-way contract. The team still has one open two-way roster slot available.

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25 Of NBA’s 30 Teams Have Made At Least One Offseason Trade

August 8th, 2022 at 8:03am CST by Luke Adams

Since the 2022 NBA offseason began, 26 trades have been made, as our tracker shows. A total of 25 teams have been involved in those 26 deals, with 15 clubs (half the league) completing multiple trades.

The Raptors, Heat, Bulls, Pelicans, and Clippers are the only teams that have not been part of at least one trade since their seasons ended this spring. While most of those clubs were pretty active in free agency, it has been an especially quiet offseason in New Orleans, where the Pelicans also haven’t made a single free agent signing.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Timberwolves have been the NBA’s most active team on the trade market this summer, with new president of basketball operations Tim Connelly putting his stamp on the franchise in his first few months on the job. After making four draft-night deals in June, Minnesota finalized the offseason’s biggest trade by acquiring Rudy Gobert from the Jazz just over a month ago.

The Hawks and Knicks, with four deals apiece, have been the next most active teams on the trade market. A pair of Atlanta’s moves were minor, but the other two – acquiring Dejounte Murray and sending Kevin Huerter to Sacramento – will have a major impact on the team going forward. As for New York, most of Leon Rose‘s deals involved shuffling around draft picks and clearing cap room for the team’s free agent signings of Jalen Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein.

Here are a few more details on this summer’s 26 trades:

  • The Pacers, Pistons, Nuggets, Grizzlies, and Kings have each made three trades. The other teams to make multiple deals are the Hornets, Thunder, Jazz, Trail Blazers, Mavericks, Rockets, and Spurs, with two apiece.
  • That leaves the Sixers, Nets, Celtics, Cavaliers, Bucks, Magic, Wizards, Lakers, Warriors, and Suns as the clubs that have each completed just one trade.
  • All 26 of this offseason’s trades have consisted of just two teams, with no three- or four-team deals made so far. A draft-night agreement involving the Hornets, Knicks, and Pistons was originally reported as a three-team trade, but was ultimately completed as two separate deals.
  • Not a single player has been signed-and-traded so far during the 2022 offseason. That’s pretty surprising, since 27 free agents changed teams via sign-and-trade in the three years from 2019-21 and only four teams used cap room this offseason — sign-and-trades are typically more common in years when most clubs are operating over the cap.
  • Eight first round picks from the 2022 draft were traded this summer, and four of those were dealt twice: Jalen Duren (Charlotte to New York to Detroit); Walker Kessler (Memphis to Minnesota to Utah); Wendell Moore (Dallas to Houston to Minnesota); and TyTy Washington (Memphis to Minnesota to Houston).
  • Another dozen second round 2022 picks changed hands this offseason, including one that was on the move twice (No. 46 pick Ismael Kamagate from Detroit to Portland to Denver).
  • A total of 15 future first round picks (2023 and beyond) were included in trades this summer, including a pair that changed hands twice. Six of those first round picks were unprotected, while nine included protections.
  • Another 19 future second round picks (2023 and beyond) were also traded, with two of those 19 dealt twice. All but one of those traded second rounders was unprotected.
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