The Chicago Bulls announced on Thursday that second-year big man Marko Simonovic was sent back down to the Windy City Bulls.
Simonovic played 28 games with the organization’s G-League affiliate last season, averaging 17.0 points with 9.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
Now, could this be one of those things where the Chicago Bulls call Marko Simonovic back up to the active roster in a day or two? Sure. But that doesn’t necessarily change anything. The fact is that this move serves as yet another reminder of how little Simonovic has done since he arrived in Chicago.
To be fair, as a second-rounder who was initially draft-and-stashed, it’s not like expectations were all that high for the Montenagrian big man. But the Bulls did show clear faith in his ability to develop into an asset by signing him to a three-year deal one offseason ago. Indeed, Simonovic received a longer-term deal than No. 38-overall pick Ayo Dosunmu, which I think we can all agree feels like a massive whiff by this front office.
Now, I’m not trying to say that Simonovic has zero future in the NBA. He’s still just 23 years old and has at least shown some semblance of an NBA-level game in the G-League. The problem is that the Bulls can’t keep investing in something that is showing almost no current return. They are a win-now team that simply can’t afford to waste roster spots in an ever-improving Eastern Conference.
What makes it even more frustrating is that the Bulls have limited depth and traditional size in the frontcourt. So if there was any place for Simonovic to prove he’s at least worthy of a third-string center spot, it would be here. Instead, he’s repeatedly failed to prove he deserves the floor over someone like Tony Bradley or two-way wing Malcolm Hill. What a bummer.