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Cristiano Felicio

Central Notes: Bulls, Nelson, J.R. Smith, Pacers

February 13th, 2018 at 5:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Bulls need to get more serious about tanking and start making moves to improve their lottery chances, Nick Friedell of ESPN.com argues. Cristiano Felicio, Paul Zipser, Noah Vonleh and Cameron Payne should receive a lot more playing time, while veterans like Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday should have their minutes reduced, Friedell says. Holding out Zach LaVine on the second game of back-to-backs would also facilitate the cause, Friedell adds.

Also around the Central Division:

  • Small forward James Ennis and point guard Jameer Nelson have jumped right into the Pistons’ rotation after being acquired just before the trade deadline. Ennis, who was traded by the Grizzlies for forward Brice Johnson and a future second-round pick, has averaged 9.5 PPG and 17.5 MPG over the past two games. Nelson, who was traded by the Bulls for Willie Reed and future draft considerations, has averaged 9.0 PPG and 5.0 APG in 19.5 MPG during his first two games with Detroit.
  • Nelson, 35, told Hoops Rumors and other reporters that he’d like to continue playing after this season. The Pistons point guard be an unrestricted free agent this summer.  “I never want to put a limit or a time frame on my career,” he said. “My body feels good, my mind is right. So I’ll just continue to work. My body and mind will tell me when it’s time for me to go. I think there will be a lot of teams that will need a guy like me next season.”
  • Pacers players lobbied GM Kevin Pritchard to stand pat during the trade deadline, Jim Ayello of the Indianapolis Star relays. Pritchard was approached by six players, who told him they wanted to see what they could accomplish with the current mix. “They feel like they are overachieving and had a little bit of a chip on their shoulder,” Pritchard said during a press conference. “They wanted to have the opportunity to finish this out and try to get into the playoffs. … That carried a lot of weight with me.”
  • Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith held onto his roster spot and retained his starting job, but he admits he was sweating out the deadline, as ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reports. “My name was being thrown around a lot out there, so it was nerve-wracking for sure,” Smith said. “When you see six guys getting traded and there’s still more than an hour to the trade deadline, there’s no telling what can happen.” Smith is owed $30.3MM over the next two seasons, which made his contract difficult to move, McMenamin notes.
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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/12/18

February 12th, 2018 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Monday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

  • The Timberwolves have recalled rookie center Justin Patton from the G League, according to the team (Twitter link). Patton has yet to make his NBA debut, but looked good for the Iowa Wolves on Sunday, scoring a team-high 21 points.
  • Newly-acquired Raptors shooting guard Malachi Richardson has been assigned to the G League, the team announced today (via Twitter). Richardson doesn’t figure to get much run for a Toronto team with a deep bench, but he should have a chance to play major minutes for the Raptors 905 against Maine on Monday night.
  • The Bulls assigned a trio of players to the G League today, according to the club (Twitter link). Kris Dunn, Cristiano Felicio, and Noah Vonleh were sent to the Windy City Bulls for practice and will be recalled after that, the team announced.
  • Patrick McCaw, who has been spending time in the G League to get more minutes, was recalled by the Warriors today, the team confirmed in a press release. The Santa Cruz Warriors scored 131 points on Sunday, but McCaw had just six of them, on 2-of-11 shooting.
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Bulls Notes: Payne, Vonleh, Butler, Felicio

February 10th, 2018 at 10:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

Cameron Payne, who hasn’t played since having offseason surgery on his right foot, is expected back after the All-Star break, tweets Nick Friedell of ESPN. Coach Fred Hoiberg and VP of basketball operations John Paxson have stated that Payne will receive playing time whenever he is ready.

Payne has appeared in just 11 games for Chicago since being acquired from the Thunder at the 2017 trade deadline. He was assigned to the Bulls’ Windy City team in the G League earlier this week to shake off some rust before returning to the NBA club.

Taken 14th overall by the Thunder in the 2015 draft, Payne has yet to find success at the NBA level. He averaged 5.2 points and 1.8 assists last season in 31 games with Oklahoma City and Chicago.

There’s more tonight from the Windy City:

  • Newly acquired forward Noah Vonleh is sitting out tonight’s game and may not play until after the break, according to Friedell (Twitter link). Hoiberg wants him to get some practice time to get used to the Bulls’ system, and there may not be an opportunity for that until after Wednesday when the team will have eight straight days off.
  • Before the Timberwolves came to town Friday, Paxson discussed the Jimmy Butler trade, saying it has worked out well for both teams, Friedell relays in a full story. The Bulls sent Butler and Justin Patton to Minnesota on draft night for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen. “We’re really happy,” Paxson said. “I won’t speak for Minnesota, but you got an All-Star player in Jimmy Butler that can go along with their young core. It seems to have addressed the desires of both teams. In this business, if you can do that, that’s a good thing.”
  • The lack of progress by backup center Cristiano Felicio has been puzzling, Sam Smith of NBA.com writes in a mailbag column. After two promising seasons, Felicio was rewarded with a four-year, $32MM deal last summer. But his numbers have gone down across the board, with averages of 3.8 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 13 minutes per night. Smith believes Felicio’s reluctance to shoot has hurt his game.
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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/19/18

January 19th, 2018 at 9:07pm CST by Austin Kent

Here are the G League moves from around the Association today:

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Nikola Mirotic, 15 Others Become Trade-Eligible

January 15th, 2018 at 8:44am CST by Luke Adams

Today is January 15, which means that trade restrictions have lifted for most of the rest of the NBA’s 2017 offseason signees. While the majority of those ’17 free agents became trade-eligible on December 15, there was a small subset of free agent signees whose trade ineligibility lasted for another month.

The 16 players whose trade restrictions lift today meet a specific set of criteria: Not only did they re-sign with their previous teams this offseason, but they received raises of at least 20%, their salaries are worth more than the minimum, and their teams were over the cap, using Bird or Early Bird rights to sign them.

The most notable name in this group is Bulls power forward Nikola Mirotic. He’s not the best player on the list — Blake Griffin and Kyle Lowry would be among those vying for that honor. But Mirotic is the most likely player to be dealt out of the 16 guys becoming trade-eligible today. He has been linked to a handful of teams already, including the Jazz, Pistons, and Trail Blazers.

Here are the 16 players becoming trade-eligible today:

With three and a half weeks left until this season’s February 8 trade deadline, nearly all of the NBA’s players are now eligible to be dealt. The only players still ineligible to be moved are those who signed free agent contracts later than October 15, plus certain players who signed contract extensions in the offseason.

Hawks guard Isaiah Taylor (January 17), Nuggets forward Richard Jefferson (January 19), and Pelicans guard Jameer Nelson (January 22) are now the only remaining players who will become trade-eligible between today and February 8. For the full list of players who won’t become trade-eligible before this year’s deadline, click here.

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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/5/2018

January 5th, 2018 at 7:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Friday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

7:08pm:

12:52pm:

  • Bulls power forward Cristiano Felicio signed a four-year, $32MM deal in July, but he has been seeing more action in the G League than the NBA as of late. The club announced today (via Twitter) that Felicio has been assigned to the Windy City Bulls for the fifth time in the last month. The 25-year-old figures to suit up for Chicago’s affiliate in tonight’s game against Fort Wayne before being recalled to the NBA.
  • The Magic have re-assigned Khem Birch and Wesley Iwundu to the G League, the team announced today (Twitter link). The duo will get a chance to play for the Lakeland Magic tonight as they host Santa Cruz.
  • Justin Jackson and Georgios Papagiannis have been sent to the Reno Bighorns by the Kings, tweets James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area. Sacramento’s affiliate hosts Northern Arizona tonight.
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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 12/29/17

December 29th, 2017 at 6:12pm CST by marksuleymanov

Here are the G-League moves from around the NBA today:

  • The Spurs have recalled Derrick White from the Austin Spurs, according to the team’s website. White has played in seven games with the G League club and he’s averaging 11.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 22.3 minutes per game.
  • The Bulls have recalled big man Cristiano Felicio from the team’s G League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls, per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). Felicio, 25, has played well on both of his G League assignments, including a 22-point, 14-rebound, six-block performance in Windy City’s recent win over the Canton Charge. Felicio has appeared in 23 games for the Bulls.
  • The Thunder recalled guard Terrance Ferguson from the organization’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, the team announced in a press release. OKC’s first-round pick from this year’s NBA Draft has appeared in 21 games this season and averaged 1.3 PPG in 6.7 minutes per game.
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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 12/17/17

December 17th, 2017 at 3:47pm CST by clarkcrum

Here are Sunday’s G League assignments and recalls from across the NBA:

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Bulls Sign Felicio To Four-Year Deal

June 30th, 2017 at 11:02pm CST by Austin Kent

2:47 PM: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

June 30: The Bulls have come to terms with restricted free agent Cristiano Felicio, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. The soon-to-be 25-year-old big man averaged 4.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game for the Bulls last season.

Per Charania, the deal will be worth $32MM over four years. That should give Chicago more than enough time to gauge what sort of player they have in Felicio.

At this point Felicio is regarded as a potentially valuable reserve, although there doesn’t appear to be any rush to throw him into significantly more minutes any time soon. His ability to serve as a big, defensive presence, however, was enough to convince Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg to let him close some games during the 2016/17 season.

Now that the Bulls have moved on from veterans Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo, the rebuild is officially underway. With that in mind, the Brazilian center will likely get more than enough opportunities to show just what he’s capable of.

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Mirotic, Felicio Get QOs; Rondo Likely To Be Cut

June 30th, 2017 at 8:29am CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls have tendered qualifying offers to pending free agents Nikola Mirotic and Cristiano Felicio, making them restricted, per RealGM’s transactions log. Mirotic and Felicio are two of Chicago’s four potential RFAs. As previously reported, Joffrey Lauvergne is also receiving a qualifying offer, but Michael Carter-Williams isn’t.

Mirotic, 26, had a solid rookie season for the Bulls in 2014/15, though his numbers haven’t improved much since then. In 2016/17, he averaged 10.6 PPG and 5.5 RPG, shooting 41.3% from the floor and 34.2% from three-point range. His qualifying offer is worth $7,228,063.

Felicio, who will turn 25 next Friday, has a more modest QO of $1,671,382. The big man averaged 4.8 PPG and 4.7 RPG in 15.8 minutes per contest (66 games) last season.

Tendering qualifying offers to both players – and to Lauvergne – gives the Bulls the right to match any offer sheet those RFAs may sign. Those players could also accept the qualifying offer from Chicago, which would put them in line for a one-year deal worth the amount of their QO. The Bulls will have until July 13 to withdraw those QOs, assuming their RFAs remain unsigned.

Meanwhile, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune has the latest update on Rajon Rondo, whose 2017/18 salary will become fully guaranteed for an extra $10MM+ if he remains under contract beyond Friday. According to Johnson, Rondo’s contract structure has prompted the Bulls to include him in some recent trade proposals. However, those scenarios don’t appear to have gained much traction.

Unless the Bulls can find a taker for Rondo today, the veteran point guard is expected to be waived, per Johnson.

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