The Bulls have signed No. 11 overall pick Doug McDermott, the team announced via press release. The sharpshooting forward from Creighton will likely receive a salary of nearly $2.278MM this season, as our table of salaries for 2014 first-round picks shows.
Chicago acquired the rights to McDermott on draft night in a trade with the Nuggets. McDermott was a consensus All-American during each of his final three seasons with the Blue Jays, and he averaged 26.7 points and 7.0 rebounds with 44.9% three-point shooting from behind the arc this past season. His defense is a concern, but his ability to stretch the floor with his shot certainly isn’t, as Cray Allred of Hoops Rumors examined when he compiled McDermott’s Prospect Profile.
The timing of the announcement is somewhat curious, since McDermott’s name surfaced in a report earlier today as a player the Wolves are high on as the Bulls make another run at trading for Kevin Love. The Bulls will have to wait 30 days to trade McDermott after having signed him, but they could have traded his rights immediately had they held off on officially coming to terms.