It was only a matter of time before Otto Porter selected his player option for the 2020-21 season, and that time has finally come.
According to Yahoo Sports Chris Haynes, Porter has decided to snag the $28.4 million available to him next season. Once again, he will be the highest-paid player on the Bulls roster.
Chicago Bulls forward Otto Porter Jr. is opting into his $28.4 million player option for the 2020-21 season, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) November 16, 2020
A foregone conclusion. This pushes the Bulls to 12 guaranteed roster spots, and ~$3 million under the salary cap line. Signing their first-round pick will push them over the cap and to 13 roster spots https://t.co/n7NnIB2Epu
— Rob Schaefer (@rob_schaef) November 16, 2020
*pretends to be shocked*
Thanks to a slew of unfortunate injuries, Porter has only been able to play 29 of the possible 93 games since joining the Bulls in the 2018-19 season. The 27-year-old was not going to be able to grab a more attractive deal in free agency this offseason with that being the case (not to mention the broader financial market), so the goal now is to put together a bounceback 2020-21 campaign.
The expectation is that Porter can still be a valuable starter if fully healthy. He has been considered one of the better 3-and-D wings in the league over the past couple of seasons, and the Bulls are bound to benefit in a number of ways with a healthy Porter on the court.
Anyway, the Bulls will now officially operate with limited cap space this offseason. The team will have the mid-level exception (roughly $9.2 million) and biannual exception ($3.6 million) at this disposal.
For more on Porter, check out some of our posts from earlier this offseason:
One Way or Another, the Bulls Can Still Get Plenty of Value Out of a *Healthy* Otto Porterhttps://t.co/sFCPxW4m61
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) October 5, 2020
Just a Reminder: A Healthy Otto Porter Jr. Can Mean a Lot to the 2020-2021 Chicago Bullshttps://t.co/9b20pMZk3e
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) July 3, 2020