The Chicago Bulls have inked 26-year-old forward Malcolm Hill to a 10-day contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Chicago Bulls are signing forward Malcolm Hill to a 10-day contract, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 13, 2022
The Hill signing will not only pair Ayo Dosunmu with a fellow Illini-legend, but it will also give the organization a player to evaluate in the wake of the Derrick Jones Jr. injury. Jones, who hurt his knee in Wednesday night’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets, has been diagnosed with a bone bruise and is miss 4-to-6 weeks.
Hill – who had previously played overseas after college – is coming off his first real NBA stint after signing a 10-day contract with the Atlanta Hawks. The 6’6″ forward appeared in three games for Atlanta, two of which (funny enough) came against the Chicago Bulls. Hill scored his first NBA basket in the Bulls’ first matchup with the Hawks on December 27th. Two nights later, Hill scored 13 points on a 5-8 shooting performance to go along with 3 steals and 3 rebounds.
Clearly, Hill’s brief time on the floor made an impression on the Bulls front office, and it will be interesting to see how much time he gets to prove his worth further over the Bulls next handful of games. He is still a bit undersized to man the power forward position at 6’6,” and he isn’t known for his peak athleticism or explosive qualities, but Hill does possess a strong frame and a controlled game. He has a high basketball IQ and isn’t afraid to play a physical brand of basketball on both ends of the floor.
In his final season as a member of the Fighting Illini, Hill averaged 17.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. He shot 43.4 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from downtown, also getting to the free-throw line nearly 6.0 times per game.