Ryan Allen

Southeast Draft Notes: Beauchamp, Agbaji, Daniels, Washington, Devoe, Toney

Projected first round prospects MarJon Beauchamp (G League Ignite) and Ochai Agbaji (Kansas) are among the players visiting the Wizards on Friday, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets. Beauchamp is ranked No. 23 on ESPN’s Best Available list, while Agbaji sits at No. 16. Washington holds the No. 10 selection. Ryan Allen (Delaware), Michael Devoe (Georgia Tech), Brady Manek (North Carolina) and Cole Swider (Syracuse) will also work out.

We have more draft-related notes for the Southeast Division:

Bulls Waive Marko Jaric, Ryan Allen

The Bulls have officially waived camp invitees Marko Jaric and Ryan Allen, the team announced today in a press release. The pair of cuts reduces Chicago's roster to 13 players, meaning the team is likely set for the regular season.

Jaric and Allen were among the five free agents the Bulls invited to camp this month, but like the other three, who have also been released, they were long shots to earn roster spots. Although teams can carry up to 15 players in the regular season, the Bulls are up against a hard cap, with only about $758K of breathing room. Chicago would have needed to make a corresponding roster move to clear space for either player's minimum-salary deal.

As is, the Bulls will be eligible to sign a veteran player without trading or releasing another player as of November 19th, when the amount of the veteran-minimum salary prorates to fit within their cap parameters.

Bulls Rumors: Hinrich, Robinson, Fesenko, Gibson

When Kirk Hinrich tweaked his groin during last night's game against the Thunder, it shone a spotlight on the reality of the Bulls' situation, according to Nick Friedell in a piece for ESPNChicago.com. With Derrick Rose out and the bench having been overhauled in the offseason, it's not clear yet whether Chicago has the depth to withstand another injury or two, opines Friedell. While we wait to hear if Hinrich's injury is any more than a minor issue, here's the rest of this morning's Bulls-related updates:

  • Nate Robinson is confident that he can step up and man the point if Hinrich's injury results in missed time, writes Scott Powell of ESPNChicago.com. If he wasn't a lock to make the team already, Robinson certainly appears to be now — due to the Bulls' hard cap, that means camp invitees Marko Jaric and Ryan Allen have no chance to be on the opening night roster unless the club makes a trade to clear salary.
  • Another Bulls camp invitee who was recently waived, Kyrylo Fesenko may be drawing interest from Spanish team Caja Laboral, according to a report passed along by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. As Mark Deeks of ShamSports tweeted after Fesenko was cut, the Bulls could consider circling back around to Fesenko later this season, when they can afford to re-sign him.
  • With one week remaining to work out a long-term extension with the Bulls, Taj Gibson continues to not let his contract situation affect his play, as he tells Aggrey Sam of CSN Chicago. "When you’re in this situation, a lot of people are more focused on it than you," Gibson said. "You just have to let it slide off your shoulders. Joakim [Noah] was talking about to me about it a couple of days ago, but I always just shrug it off…. You really can’t do anything about it, except worry about what you can take care of and that’s the court work. Your agent and the GM has to worry about that."

Bulls Sign Five To Finalize Camp Roster

The Bulls have officially signed five players to finalize their training camp roster, the team announced today in a press release. In addition to previously reported signees like Andre Emmett and Kyrylo Fesenko, the Bulls also added Marko Jaric, Ryan Allen, and Vance Cooksey, according to the team release.

With 13 players previously under contract, the Bulls were up against a hard cap, with only about $758K available to spend on players. However, since these five players were presumably signed to summer contracts, the salary won't count against Chicago's cap unless one of more of these guys makes the team. In that case, the Bulls would have to shed salary in another way, perhaps via trade, to clear room.

In addition to previously hearing about Emmett's and Fesenko's agreements, we also heard that Jaric and Allen were working out with the Bulls. Cooksey is the only new name — he spent last season playing in the D-League for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the Texas Legends, averaging 8.8 PPG and 4.8 APG in 38 contests.

Bulls Rumors: Pargo, White, Allen, Gibson

The Bulls find themselves in a pickle as training camp approaches, with a $73.55MM payroll that bumps up against a hard cap of $74.3MM invoked when they exceeded the taxpayer's mid-level exception to sign Kirk Hinrich. That gives them enough room for a rookie on a minimum-salary deal of $473,604, and they might be able to squeeze in a one-year vet at the $762,195 minimum, depending on the accuracy of their reported salaries. Aside from that, they'll have to get rid of one of their contracts to add anyone else to the regular season roster. The team could swing a trade or waive Nate Robinson and his partially guaranteed contract to find a place for Andre Emmett, a player with two years of experience who'll be in training camp on a non-guaranteed deal. Still, the team appears to continue to look around for additional free agent help, as Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com chronicles

  • Sam hears that free agents Jannero Pargo, D.J. White and Ryan Allen are joining many of the Bulls for voluntary workouts in Chicago leading up to the opening of camp. Allen is the brother of Grizzlies guard Tony Allen, and is a native of Chicago. Pargo is having discussions with a few NBA teams, as we heard yesterday, and White is reportedly drawing interest from multiple teams overseas.
  • Taj Gibson indicated earlier this month that talks were under way about an extension, and agent Mark Bartelstein confirms that to Sam. "It's something we've been talking about for a while," Bartelstein said. "(GM) Gar (Forman) and I have been putting a lot of work in. Taj would love to be a Bull for a long time, there's no question about that."
  • The Bulls place a high value on Gibson and privately "acknowledge he's a keeper," Sam writes, but the presence of Carlos Boozer, who has three years and $47.1MM left on his contract, at his position complicates matters. The Bulls have an October 31st deadline to extend Gibson and keep him from becoming a restricted free agent next summer.