Bulls Sign Marquis Teague

WEDNESDAY, 1:05pm: The Bulls have officially announced Teague's signing in a press release.

TUESDAY, 2:07pm: Teague has signed his rookie contract, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.  The first-round pick ultimately signed a deal for 100 percent of his slotted salary in the first year, $857K, according to sources.  The following years are expected to be at the 120 percent slotted salary.

The Bulls are left with just $758K under the hard cap, meaning that they do not have enough money to add someone at the $857K veteran's minimum.

MONDAY, 8:06am: Marquis Teague is the only remaining unsigned first-round pick, but this weekend the 29th overall selection gave indication that he and the Bulls are nearing a deal. The University of Kentucky product spoke to Kyle Tucker of the Louisville Courier-Journal while assisting with a youth basketball camp at his alma mater.

“I’m about to get it figured out when I go back," Teague said. "We just pretty much came up with something. So as soon as I go back to Chicago, it’ll be done. We’re right there. We’ll figure it out.”

Mark Deeks of ShamSports speculated last week that the sides were hung up over the Bulls' desire to pay him less than the standard 120% of the rookie scale amount, which would be a first-year salary of $1,028,400 in Teague's case. NBA teams almost always give their first-round picks the maximum allowable amount, but there are exceptions. The Bulls are hard-capped at $74.3MM for 2012/13 after using more than the taxpayer's mid-level of $3.09MM to sign Kirk Hinrich, so saving every penny will be a priority for Chicago this season.

Teague averaged 10.0 points and 4.8 assists in 32.6 minutes per game on a loaded Kentucky team this past season. He's the brother of Jeff Teague of the Hawks.

View Comments (0)