NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bulls have filled their last remaining roster spot.
After going through the first 56 games of the season with only 14 full-time players, the front office has decided to promote Onuralp Bitim to the active roster, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The Turkish forward was previously on a two-way contract and spent most of his time with the Windy City Bulls.
Bitim has averaged 16.7 points per on 43.3 percent shooting from downtown over his 12 regular season games in the G-League. He has a total of just six minutes played over two games in the NBA this season.
I have to be honest, I have zero clue what the Chicago Bulls line of thinking is here. They continue to preach that being “competitive” and pushing for the postseason is a priority, so instead of looking to add a veteran on the buyout market … they promote someone with practically zero NBA experience? And that’s not the most confusing thing!
Bitim was already on the roster. The Bulls could have simply chosen to play him the rest of the season on his two-way deal while simultaneously adding depth via the buyout market. They have roughly $1.7 million. to spend before the luxury tax, which gave them plenty of flexibility to sign someone for the final 26 games to prorated veteran minimum.
Especially for a team that is as banged up as this crew, I don’t really understand the logic behind not trying to add an extra body. I suppose they can now sign another two-way player, but this isn’t likely to be anyone who can crack the rotation or help in the short term. And, again, for a team that has done nothing but preach competitiveness, it’s head-scratching.
Now, with that said, I have nothing against Bitim. He’s a relatively interesting prospect with good positional size and a promising 3-point shot. I can see a world where he turns into a decent role-player. Head coach Billy Donovan has had every opportunity to play him this entire season, though, and the decision has been made not to do so. This has me extremely skeptical that he’ll see any meaningful minutes over the next month and a half.
Charania did report that this was a multi-year deal, so perhaps that plays a part in the decision. The Bulls can continue to develop him for cheap moving forward. But it’s also very possible this deal is like Carlik Jones’ from last season and gives the Bulls an out this offseason. Regardless, it’s an odd decision for someone as inexperienced as Bitim. I highly doubt another team would have scooped up this summer, and the Bulls could have possibly gotten him back on a two-way deal next year.
