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During the first few hours of the 2013 NBA Free Agency period, the Chicago Bulls have been pretty silent as expected. They do not have very much money to work with and are going to have competition to bring back a couple guys of their own, so this summer could be rough on Chicago fans.
With both Nate Robinson and Marco Belinelli entering the open market, the Bulls will probably stand by and wait to see what other teams are going to offer them and then decide if they can afford to match it.
One development over the first day of this hectic free agency period has been that of small forward Mike Dunleavy Jr. receiving interest from the Bulls. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Chicago is in pursuit of the former Milwaukee Bucks swing man:
Bulls pursuing Mike Dunleavy Jr., with mini mid-level, sources tell Y! Sports. If Rockets snare Dwight Howard, Dunleavy major target there.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 1, 2013
Updated: Wojnarowski tweeted this around 6:30 p.m. CST,
Chicago has emerged as a frontrunner to sign free agent Mike Dunleavy, Jr., league sources tell Y! Sides discussing two-year, $6M deal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 1, 2013
The Bulls have been thought to try and split their mid-level exception between two players they would like to bring in instead of using it all on one guy. Robinson was one of the more talked about names in regards to the exception, but Chicago has several spots to fill and are likely going to go the former route.
Dunleavy Jr. would be a great signing for Chicago. It would most likely be just a one year deal — so minimal risk involved. He shot a great percentage from the field last year, especially from three point distance. With the Bucks in 2012, Dunleavy Jr. finished the year on 43 percent shooting from outside the arc.
The Bulls obviously need scoring more than anything at this point. Head coach Tom Thibodeau will make his guys play defense, that’s no secret. What they should be most focused on is scoring, and it looks like they are off to a positive start.
I know this is not the glamorous signing that many other teams are looking for, but again remember the Bulls’ cap situation. Getting Derrick Rose back and looking to have Joakim Noah and Luol Deng healthy at the start of the season will be excellent, and they will just build on those pieces for a year before entering free agency in 2014 — likely to be one of the more notable summers in recent memory.
I would like to see Chicago pull this signing off, if only because it means they get a solid veteran player with a high basketball IQ. Dunleavy Jr. doesn’t turn the ball over a lot and can shoot consistently. Not to mention he comes cheap. What more could you ask for if you’re the Bulls?
Ryan Heckman is a Senior NBA Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanmheckman, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
