Bulls officially add veteran big man Thompson
The Bulls announced the signing of veteran big man Tristan Thompson on Saturday night and released forward Alfonzo McKinnie.
Both Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan commented on Thompson, who was released by Indiana on Thursday. LaVine praised the Bulls management team of Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley for continuing to build the roster.
"It's great. I've talked to him (Thompson)." LaVine said Saturday. "I think he's going to bring a lot, another experienced guy, championship-level guy that's been in these games before where he can help us in these situations.
"AK and Marc, they're going for it. Obviously, they trust in me, they trust in DeMar, they trust in this group and it just means a lot going into the last year of my contract that they're putting a team around us that can compete."
DeRozan talked about Thompson after Wednesday's game against Sacramento, shortly after Pacers coach Rick Carlisle broke the news in his postgame news conference.
"Known Tristan for years, great dude," DeRozan said. "Obviously I competed with him in the Cleveland days when I was with Toronto. Championship experience, good friend of mine, got the utmost respect for him off the court and obviously we all know what he brings on the court.
"I think this will be a great addition for us, what he's able to bring, veteran leadership, understanding what it takes to win a championship."
Thompson, 30, is in his 11th NBA season. He spent the first nine years in Cleveland after being chosen with the No. 4 overall pick in 2011. He played for Boston last year and began this season in Sacramento before being traded to the Pacers at the deadline.
Thanks to his association with LeBron James, Thompson has played in 83 playoff games and 22 Finals games, winning a title with the Cavs in 2016. His best season was 2019-20 when he averaged 12 points and 10.1 rebounds.
His main role with the Bulls figures to be backup center. He could conceivably play some power forward alongside Nikola Vucevic, but two big man lineups are uncommon in the NBA these days.
The Bulls signed McKinnie for the full season, so he'll continue to get paid. The Chicago native had fallen out of the rotation and was the obvious choice to go if the Bulls added a player on the buyout market.
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