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Latest On Potential Bulls Signings

April 5th, 2014 at 10:09pm CST by Cray Allred

The Bulls plan to add Mike James, and Ronnie Brewer is a likely addition as well, per K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. Johnson adds that a third player could be signed after James and Brewer, a possibility we reported when Erik Murphy was first waived. As we noted earlier today, the Bulls should avoid the the luxury tax regardless of whether Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson earn their performance bonuses, thanks to the Jazz claiming Murphy off of waivers. Murphy’s salary was greater than multiple late-season pro-rated contracts will likely add up to.

James would meet the same need that he filled when playing on a 10-day contract with Chicago earlier this season: backup point guard. Brewer, however, could move in front of Tony Snell in the Bulls’ wing rotation. Snell’s minutes have dried up recently, and Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times thinks the Bulls interest in Brewer is directly tied to coach Tom Thibodeau’s frustration with Snell.

Luol Deng was traded earlier in the season as merely a cost-cutting move, and there has been much speculation about the Bulls plans for this season and beyond ever since. Johnson notes that the team has had contingency plans in place to avoid the repeater tax even if they exceeded the tax cap this season, and it appears they’ve reached a level of flexibility to be more active. After going much of the season below the league minimum for rostered players, the Bulls are adding potential rotation pieces in a flourish. If the newest signings occur, they will combine with recent addition Jimmer Fredette to give the Bulls at or near the max of 15 players under contract.

Bulls Rumors: Murphy, Brewer, James

April 4th, 2014 at 11:41am CST by Chuck Myron

If a team claims Erik Murphy off waivers, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has suggested is likely, the Bulls will catch a break. Murphy’s salary would come off Chicago’s books and help the team avert paying the luxury tax in case Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson earn bonuses that they were considered unlikely to achieve before the season but seem to have a shot at attaining now. Here’s more on a Bulls roster in flux:

A source tells Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald that there’s a decent chance the Bulls will sign multiple players to replace Murphy. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune backs that up, tweeting that it’s not necessarily an either-or proposition between Ronnie Brewer and Mike James and that the Bulls are open to possibly signing two guys. That makes sense, considering that inking two or three veterans to prorated contracts for the minimum salary at this point in the season would be cheaper than even Murphy’s $490,180 rookie minimum salary.
The Bulls will probably wait a few days before bringing anyone aboard, McGraw writes, which suggests the team is waiting to see whether Murphy is claimed. If he becomes a free agent, his salary will remain on Chicago’s ledger, and I think it would make the team less likely to sign multiple players, though that’s just my speculation.
Gibson supports the idea of signing Brewer, as Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune notes via Twitter. “He’s athletic, a leader and he’s been through a lot with us,” Gibson said of his teammate from 2010/11 and 2011/12.
Sam Smith of Bulls.com looks ahead to the playoffs and Chicago’s possible offseason moves in his latest mailbag column.

Bulls Waive Erik Murphy, Target James, Brewer

April 3rd, 2014 at 3:34pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls have waived rookie Erik Murphy, the team announced via press release. The move drops Chicago’s roster to 12 players, which means the team has to add someone before the playoffs. That’s the plan, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, who says the team has had conversations with Mike James and Ronnie Brewer recently (Twitter links). Brewer worked out for the team at its practice facility today, tweets Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com.

Murphy, 23, joined the Bulls after they drafted him 49th overall this past summer and signed him to a partially guaranteed deal for the minimum salary. The contract became fully guaranteed when the team elected not to waive him by January 7th, so he’ll receive his full salary of $490,180. He, like A.J. Price, whom the Wolves waived today, is ineligible to play for another team in the postseason.

The Bulls called on the former University of Florida big man sparingly this season, as he totaled just 62 minutes in 24 games. It seems Chicago wants a veteran who can make a larger impact for the playoffs, and James and Brewer have track records of postseason success. The 38-year-old James was with the Bulls to begin the season, and they brought him back on a 10-day contract in January after waiving him in December. He nonetheless averaged just 7.0 MPG in 11 appearances. Brewer played a much larger role for the Bulls in 2010/11 and 2011/12, and he became a free agent after the Rockets waived him in February.

Odds & Ends: Young, Bulls, Kuzmic

February 6th, 2014 at 11:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Lakers‘ Nick Young will be out at least two weeks with a patella fracture, writes Zach Harper of CBS Sports.com. Young injured his left knee in last night’s game at Cleveland, and had an MRI exam today in Philadelphia. Results of the MRI show that Young has a non-displaced fracture of the patella and a bone bruise. Young joins Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant, Xavier Henry, and Jodie Meeks, amongst the ranks of the team’s injured players. Young is averaging 16.9 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 1.5 APG, in 28.8 MPG.

Southwest Notes: James, Thunder, Mavs

February 2nd, 2014 at 7:46pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest out of the Southwest Division..

The Grizzlies are considering picking up Mike James on a 10-day deal, according to Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal (via Twitter). The guard inked a 10-day pact with the Bulls on January 22nd but Chicago allowed it to lapse rather than sign him to a second one.
The Thunder announced that they have recalled forward Andre Roberson from the Tulsa 66ers. Roberson, who is very familiar with the trip from Oklahoma City to Tulsa at this point, recorded two double-doubles while averaging 14.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.75 steals, 1.75 blocks and 31.3 minutes in four games during his most recent assignment. Overall, the forward is averaging 15.6 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 2.45 steals, 1.45 blocks and 35.2 minutes in eleven games with Tulsa.
The Mavericks announced today that they have recalled rookie guard Shane Larkin from the Texas Legends of the D-League. Larkin has played in 32 games for the Mavericks and is averaging 3.6 points and 1.8 assists in 12.5 minutes per contest.

Central Rumors: Bulls, Green, Scola

January 22nd, 2014 at 5:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls could take a couple of different paths regarding trade exceptions from Tuesday’s deal with the Nets. Chicago could absorb Tornike Shengelia’s $788,872 salary into the $2,025,000 exception they received in the Luol Deng trade, leaving that exception at $1,236,128 and creating a new exception worth the equivalent of Marquis Teague’s $1,074,720 salary. It seems more likely that they would leave the Deng exception alone and create a tiny $285,848 exception from the difference between Teague and Shengelia’s salaries, simply because a roughly $2MM exception is more useful than two exceptions worth about $1MM. Still, their choice remains unconfirmed. Here’s the latest from the Central:

Gerald Green isn’t upset with the Pacers for burying him last season or trading him over the summer, and says he has no intention of ever leaving the Suns, notes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
Luis Scola says the memories of his time with the Suns are painful, as Coro passes along in the same story. Scola nonetheless had concerns about how much of a role he’d have on the Pacers when the team traded for him this summer, observes Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. Frank Vogel assured the longtime starter he’d be a major part of the team, and Scola appears content as a key player off the bench.
The trade talk surrounding Greg Monroe is starting to bother him, as he tells Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News. “It does, to be honest. We’re still trying to get things right, here,” Monroe said. “To see that stuff … I just focus on what we’re doing here. I’m here. If that changes, then I’ll move forward. If it never does, I’ll focus on playing these games and trying to win these games.”
The Cavaliers have assigned Carrick Felix and Sergey Karasev to the D-League, the team announced. It’ll be the fourth D-League stint this year for Felix, who just returned from the Canton Charge on Tuesday, and the third for Karasev.
No other NBA teams made an offer to Mike James, who jumped on a 10-day contract from the Bulls and harbors no ill will toward the team for waiving him earlier this season, as he tells reporters, including K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.

Bulls Sign Mike James To 10-Day Contract

January 22nd, 2014 at 9:50am CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 9:50am: James has officially signed his deal with Chicago, and it’s a 10-day contract, the team announced.

TUESDAY, 4:34pm: The Bulls will re-sign point guard Mike James, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. The 38-year-old made the team out of training camp, but the Bulls waived him last month after signing D.J. Augustin. Chicago traded Marquis Teague to the Nets today for big man Tornike Shengelia, so the return of James replenishes the Bulls’ point guard depth. USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt wrote last month that the team might bring James back if it traded Teague.

It’s unclear if the agreement is for a 10-day contract or a deal that covers a rest of the season. Cartier Martin is on his second 10-day with the Bulls, who hope to re-sign him for the season once it expires. That would still leave Chicago with a pair of open roster spots, leaving plenty of room for James. The Bulls are within $1MM of the luxury tax line, so it seems the timing of the decision to bring James aboard in the wake of today’s trade, which sheared $285,848 from Chicago’s payroll, is financially motivated.

The Bernie Lee client saw just 38 minutes total in his first stint with the Bulls this season, but he started 23 games for the Mavericks last year, averaging 8.2 points, 4.4 assists and 25.8 minutes per game in those starts. He also played with the Bulls during the 2011/12 season.

Eastern Notes: Bulls, Waiters, Nene, Pistons

December 18th, 2013 at 12:30pm CST by Luke Adams

After losing in Indiana last Tuesday, the Heat will get another shot at the Pacers tonight, this time in Miami. As we look forward to the evening’s showdown between the only two Eastern teams that look like title contenders, let’s round up a few notes from around the conference….

The Bulls are considering their options with Marquis Teague and D.J. Augustin, and could ultimately end up trading the former or waiving the latter. If that happens, the team may re-sign the recently waived Mike James, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link).
Dion Waiters moved quickly to shoot down yesterday’s report that he wanted to be traded from the Cavs to the 76ers, and Michael Kaskey-Blomain of the Philadelphia Inquirer hears from a source that the Sixers are unlikely to land Waiters anyway.
Addressing the trade rumors surrounding Waiters and Anderson Varejao, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown suggested those reports were laughable, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
While he has said in the past that he may retire before the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, Wizards big man Nene acknowledged in a Q&A with Grantland’s Zach Lowe that he’d be open to playing beyond that date, health permitting.
Keith Langlois of Pistons.com fields Pistons-related questions from readers in his latest mailbag, including inquiries on the futures of Greg Monroe and Rodney Stuckey in Detroit.

Bulls Notes: Waiters, Mirotic, James

December 16th, 2013 at 8:32pm CST by Luke Adams

Unsurprisingly, the Bulls have struggled without their star player, losing eight of 11 games since Derrick Rose suffered a meniscus injury that figures to end his season. Chicago came into tonight’s game against the Magic with a 9-13 record, which, believe it or not, would be good enough for a playoff spot in the East if the season had ended yesterday. Here’s the latest on the Bulls:

Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) is hearing chatter about the possibility of the Bulls or Sixers landing Dion Waiters from the Cavs.
Sources close to the situation tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com that the Bulls are doing everything they can on the buyout front to be able to bring Nikola Mirotic to the NBA next season. We learned earlier this week that Chicago, which holds Mirotic’s draft rights from 2011, met with the Real Madrid forward with the hope of bringing him stateside. Now, Stein wonders if the Bulls, after cutting Mike James today, will see their forward-thinking plan through and move Luol Deng and/or Carlos Boozer before the deadline.
Speaking of James, Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside wonders if the veteran guard might return to the D-League to audition for NBA teams again.
The Bulls held steady at No. 10 in Chad Ford’s latest Tank Rank piece at ESPN.com (Insider link), with Ford writing that coach Tom Thibodeau would “throw a fit” if the Bulls started trading players like Deng and Boozer.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Bulls Waive Mike James

December 16th, 2013 at 12:10pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bulls announced that they have officially released Mike James. Chicago’s roster now stands at 13.

The veteran guard signed with the Bulls on September 27th and appeared in seven games with Chicago, averaging 0.3 ppg, 0.9 apg in 5.4 mpg. It would appear that the Bulls let James go so that they could give more burn to younger guards Marquis Teague and the recently-signed D.J. Augustin.

Even though the Bulls are struggling without star guard Derrick Rose, their 9-13 record would still be good for the No. 8 seed in the East if the playoffs started today. However, today’s move could be a sign that Chicago is more concerned with next season than the current campaign.