The Bulls bolster their backcourt depth with a new veteran addition. Chicago will sign former All-NBA point guard Goran Dragic to a one-year contract, according to Jordan Schultz of the Pull Up Podcast ( Twitter link ).
Dragic, who was most recently with the Nets, will make $2.9 million, the veteran minimum, next season, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweeted.
Dragic, who has an All-Star season and an All-NBA season on his resume, played a crucial role during the Heat’s NBA Finals run on the bubble campus in Orlando in 2020. The Slovenian guard’s production plummeted the following season amid injury problems, and he was eventually dealt to the Raptors in the sign-and-trade deal that brought Kyle Lowry to the Heat in the 2021 offseason.
Last year, Dragic appeared in just five games with Toronto before agreeing to leave the club as he looked for a suitable deal. The 36-year-old was sent to the Spurs and agreed to a buyout with San Antonio before committing to the Nets as a free agent.
In 16 games with Brooklyn, including six starts, Dragic averaged 7.3 PPG, 4.8 APG and 3.2 RPG while posting a .376/.245/.739 shooting percentage. While his assist and rebound numbers were in line with his career averages of 4.8 PPG and 3.1 RPG, his scoring efficiency at 25.5 MPG for Brooklyn was a far cry from his 14-year career average of 13 .7 PPG on .460/.362/. 767 shooting.
The addition of Dragic marks Chicago’s fourth free agent signing this offseason. The team agreed to re-sign All-Star shooting guard Zach LaVine to a max deal, brings back backup forward Derrick Jones Jr. off the deep bench and will add journeyman backup center Andre Drummond to improve rebounding.
As Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype notes (via Twitter ), thanks to Dragic’s minimum salary deal, the Bulls are now roughly $1.7 million under the luxury tax this season, with a projected 15 players on guaranteed contracts. Gozlan adds that Chicago has about $7 million left to use from a non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Any further changes to the Bulls’ roster seem more likely to come via trade than free agency. Opening up a roster spot now to add another free agent would require a trade or waiver of a current Bull with a guaranteed salary. The team also has a $5 million trade exception that will expire after July 7.
If the Bulls make a deal, it could include their backcourt depth. The team is adding to a group of guards that already includes Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, Ayo Dosunmu and Kobe White, although Ball’s health next season remains in question.
KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago reports that the team expects the current roster to be intact for fall training camp, though he admits the team appears to have a surplus of guards.
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