NEWSLETTER
Arturas Karnisovas is playing chess!
The Chicago Bulls have reportedly signed Kostas Antetokounmpo, brother of the Greek Freak, to a training camp deal. The news comes in the wake of an overseas report connecting the Bulls to the 24-year-old forward. The Athletic’s Shams Charania writes that Kostas will compete for a two-way contract on the Bulls’ official roster.
For a Bulls team still in need of wing defense and size, Kostas feels like the kind of flyer this team should invite into the Advocate Center. Here’s a little of what we wrote when Chicago’s interest in the Antetokounmpo brother was first reported:
With that said, the Bulls’ interest in the famous brother could at least make some sense. Kostas has played for both the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers over his three-year NBA career. This included winning a championship ring with LA back in 2019-20 (where he appeared in just five games). He’s most recently played overseas for LDLC ASVEL, which is a French basketball team that also competes in the EuroLeague.
While he’s struggled to make much of a statistical dent in his pro career, he is still an athletic six-foot-ten power forward who can run the floor and play physical defense. Considering the Bulls’ need for bodies at the position, taking a chance on Kostas could be the kind of cheap move they are looking for before training camp starts up (and, by the way, the Bulls’ 15-man roster is currently full … so I’m assuming any interest would be for a training camp deal or possibly the team’s last remaining two-way slot).
The news also comes only a handful of weeks after Giannis turned heads with a statement about the Bulls’ franchise. The central division foe told reporters that he wouldn’t rule out playing for the city down the road. And while we shouldn’t put any actual weight into that comment right now, it’s hard not to laugh at the fact that Karnisovas and Co. quickly expressed interest in his relative after the Bucks’ superstar spoke.
A former roster member for the Lakers and Mavericks, the question now is whether or not he’ll have a leg up on the team’s other training camp invites. The Bulls previously had Justin Lewis on a two-way deal (who recently tore his ACL), and recent reports also said that Malcolm Hill signed a two-way contract to return to the team only a couple of weeks back. With that being the case, it’s unclear if any spot is actually up for grabs, but it’s always possible the Bulls decide to swap out one player for the other.
And, for what it’s worth, NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson’s latest tweet seems to suggest that Hill is not locked into a two-way contract just yet.
Regardless, Kostas is now in the mix, and we should get a better idea of how likely he is to make this roster in a couple of weeks! Until then, I’ll be daydreaming about Giannis demanding a trade to play with his brother.
