Adrian Wojnarowski just dropped his biggest offseason bomb yet (*he types with sarcasm*).
According to the NBA insider, Tony Bradley has decided to exercise his $2 million player option for the 2022-23 season.
Chicago Bulls center Tony Bradley is exercising his $2M player option for next season, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 28, 2022
Bradley struggled to find a role within the Bulls’ rotation last season despite their significant need for more active size at the rim. He played in 55 games and averaged just 3.0 points to go along with 3.4 rebounds over his 10.0 minutes per contest.
I was a tad curious to see if Bradley’s lack of playing time would push him to test the open market, but it certainly makes sense for him to grab the guaranteed money after such a lackluster season. The question now is how this might impact the Bulls’ process moving forward. Bradley’s decision to stay obviously eats up another roster spot and a little extra cash, which isn’t the best news for a team that desperately needs to improve around the margins.
The Bulls will now be at 11 guaranteed contracts heading into Thursday night’s free agency. And, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks points out, they are still in a position to have the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception at their disposal.
11 players on guaranteed contracts
$103M in salary but over the cap because of the Zach LaVine FA hold.
The Bulls will have the full $10.5M midlevel but using it all of it will likely push them into the tax. https://t.co/u62OMmVysA— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) June 28, 2022
