Augustine wants to prove to Bulls he's better
Being the last man on the bench for an NBA team is nice work if you can get it.
Former Illinois center James Augustine performed the role in Orlando, which often meant listening to the fans cheer wildly whenever he was sent to the scorer's table. The 6-foot-11 native of New Lenox made 27 game appearances in two seasons for the Magic.
But Augustine is hoping for more, which is why he's at the Berto Center this week practicing with the rest of the Bulls' summer-league squad. The Bulls are preparing to play five games at the Las Vegas summer league, starting Tuesday against Golden State.
"I think my whole career, I've kind of been maybe just flying under the radar and just doing the small things to help our team win," Augustine said Friday. "I never really had to score. We always had Deron (Williams) or Dee (Brown) or Luther (Head) or somebody else (at Illinois).
"When I was in Orlando, coach (Stan) Van Gundy always said, 'You're a great player; you can play at this level. But you have to believe in yourself.' "
Augustine spent last season with Kalise Gran Canaria in the Spanish ACB league, which is often regarded as the world's second-best basketball league. He averaged 8.0 points and 6.1 rebounds for Kalise, which is based on one of the Canary Islands.
Last week, Augustine logged three games for Utah's entry in the Orlando summer league, averaging 7.3 points and 6.0 rebounds.
"I think in Spain, I was able to experiment with different things, work on different moves," he said. "I feel I'm a more well-rounded player and that's why I'm playing in these summer leagues, just to show other teams that I've become a better player."
Draft picks in house: The Bulls' main focus during summer league will be getting a look at their two first-round draft picks, 6-8 forward James Johnson and 6-10 forward/center Taj Gibson.
"I just don't want to lose," Johnson said. "That's the main goal, just win as many games as we can. Drive, kick, getting everybody else open and scoring well."
The rest of the summer-league roster includes three holdovers from last year - Anthony Roberson, Linton Johnson and Demarcus Nelson. Some familiar names include Downers Grove native Bryan Mullins, a guard from Southern Illinois; former Nuggets first-round draft pick Julius Hodge; former Florida guard Taurean Green; UCLA guard Josh Shipp; and Notre Dame center Luke Zeller.
Blazers target Millsap: According to multiple reports, Portland presented an offer sheet to Utah restricted free agent Paul Millsap worth somewhere between $32 million and $36 million over four years. Millsap is a power forward, so if the Jazz don't match the offer within seven days, it will certainly decrease the Bulls' chances of trading for Carlos Boozer this summer.
If Utah does match, it will have two expensive players at the same position and Portland will have about $8 million in cap space with a limited number of free-agent options. In that case, the teams might resume talks about a deal sending Boozer to the Bulls, Tyrus Thomas to Utah and Kirk Hinrich to the Blazers.
The Jazz is already $4 million above the luxury-tax threshold, so matching the offer for Millsap would be an expensive propositions unless it can find a way to reduce payroll.