On Friday, the Chicago Bulls re-signed All-Star guard Zach LaVine to a five-year, $215 million extension. But the team was not done making transactions. Later in the afternoon, the Bulls reportedly agreed bring back Derrick Jones Jr. on a two-year, $6.6 million deal.
Free agent forward Derrick Jones Jr. has agreed to a two-year, $6.6 million deal to return to the Chicago Bulls, with player option in second season, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2022
According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, the second year is a player option. Jones Jr. is coming off of his first season with the Bulls where he played just over 17 minutes per game off the bench. He only averaged 5.6 points last season, but showed a nose for the basketball grabbing 3.3 rebounds per game despite the limited playing time. He was also very efficient, albeit in that limited role. The Bulls guard shot 54 percent from the field last season, the highest since his rookie year.
The Bulls are looking to contend once again in the Eastern Conference next season. But there is still a lot of work to do if they want to accomplish that goal. Despite finishing 46-36 last season, the Bulls struggled mightily against the best teams in the NBA. At one point, they were 0-16 against the top four teams from both the Eastern and Western Conferences.
Tristan Thompson remains an unrestricted free agent from Chicago. Meanwhile, Matt Thomas, Malcolm Hill and Tyler Cook are all restricted free agents with the Bulls.
Chicago essentially has close to $100 million tied into LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball and Nikola Vucevic this season. So, there is not a lot of room for roster construction from here. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the Bulls roster shapes up.
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