ORLANDO, Fla. — The Chicago Bulls didn’t make a move at the NBA trade deadline, but that doesn’t mean they won’t add a final piece to their roster before the closing stretch of the season.
The front office has taken this route in recent years — the Bulls added players such as Tristan Thompson and Patrick Beverley to fill needs for a final playoff push. And this year the Bulls have an extra roster spot after receiving an injury exception for Lonzo Ball, who hasn’t played basketball since January 2022 and won’t return this season after undergoing a third surgery on his left knee.
The buyout market is always a limited mechanism for acquiring top-level talent. While several players are available for the Bulls to add, most have experienced down seasons or struggled to fit in with their previous coaches or teammates.
The Bulls have been hit or miss with the acquisitions in the past — Thompson was relatively ineffective as a backup center after they added him in February 2022, while Beverley’s short-lived tenure last season gave the team a boost before falling short in the play-in tournament.
Filling in holes left by injuries will be the main priority for the Bulls — and the most glaring deficit lies behind the 3-point line. With Zach LaVine out for the season and Patrick Williams sidelined indefinitely, the Bulls have lost a lot of their 3-point shooting volume.
Those two players average 3.8 makes on 10.2 attempts, which accounts for 32.5% of the team’s shooting from behind the arc. The Bulls have vastly improved their 3-point numbers this season but risk reverting to old habits with those two sidelined.
Here are four players to consider on the buyout market.
Joe Harris
Waived by the Detroit Pistons
Harris appears to be one of the Bulls’ main targets. According to an NBC Sports Chicago report, the front office already has expressed interest in the veteran on the buyout market.
Harris, 32, only played in 16 games for the Pistons this season, averaging 2.4 points and 0.6 assists while shooting 33.3% from 3-point range. But the Bulls likely are interested in his priors — the 10-year veteran is a career 43.6% 3-point shooter and shot 42.6% in 72 games for the Brooklyn Nets last season.
Evan Fournier
Waived by the Pistons after a trade from the New York Knicks
Another player with high potential who hasn’t seen much in the way of minutes, Fournier only logged 13 minutes in three games this season as a healthy scratch after falling out of favor with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau.
Bulls center Nikola Vučević provided a moment of levity when Fournier initially was traded from the Knicks, posting a gif on X of Mel Gibson’s character shouting “Freedooooooom” in “Braveheart” with the caption, “Evan Fournier right now.”
Evan Fournier right now pic.twitter.com/xpBo7JlBd0
— Nikola Vucevic (@NikolaVucevic) February 8, 2024
But if Fournier, 31, can establish a better relationship with a new coach, he should still have plenty to offer as a shooter. He showed out at the FIBA World Cup last summer, averaging 14 points in a strong tournament for France. And he has shot 37.8% on 3-pointers in his 12-year career.
Danilo Gallinari
Waived by the Pistons
Gallinari, 35, is an option who could address two issues for the Bulls: size and shooting. The 6-foot-10 power forward is a career 38.2% shooter from behind the arc and was averaging 35.5% this season for the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons.
There are reasons to be concerned about how well Gallinari would fit into the defensive schemes that have helped the Bulls stay afloat over the last two seasons, but he could be a short-term solution to other weaknesses on this roster.
Kyle Lowry
Waived by the Charlotte Hornets after a trade by the Miami Heat
This is a slightly different look. Lowry is considered one of the top names on the buyout market after his departure from the Heat. He has been listed as a priority for the Philadelphia 76ers in addition to other teams in the Eastern Conference.
Lowry’s longtime connection with DeMar DeRozan — the two played together on the Toronto Raptors for six seasons — is well-documented, and the Bulls forward said he was saddened by the trade as the guard’s friend more than anything else. While the two haven’t attempted to join forces again on a new team, DeRozan said in January that he would be open to facilitating conversations between the Bulls and Lowry if either party was interested.
At 37, it’s hard to pitch Lowry as part of a long-term solution for the Bulls. But he’s still shooting 38.5% on 4.4 attempts per game from 3-point range this season, offering a variance at shooting guard that could work for the Bulls off the bench.
