Quiet night in NBA free agency, but Bulls add to front-line depth

The news feed was oddly quiet during the first few hours of NBA free agency, which began at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Usually, there's a flurry of new deals reported once the negotiating period begins. There was word of a trade sending Kawhi Leonard back to Toronto, with Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and draft picks going back to the Clippers. The other significant news was LeBron James making it known he plans to play again next season, for a team other than the Lakers.

The Bulls opened with some minor news, then later in the night, agreed to bring back free-agent center Zach Collins. The deal was reported for two years, $17-million by ESPN. According to the Bulls, this was actually an extension that happened before he officially hit free agency.

The 6-foot-9 Collins, 28, played in just 10 games last season due to a pair of injuries. He broke his wrist late in preseason, then had a toe injury that required surgery in February. Collins joined the Bulls midway through the previous season from San Antonio in the multi-team, Zach LaVine deal.

The verdict on Collins is he's played fairly well when he's been on the court, but he's been injured for most of his stint with the Bulls. At the same time, it's always good to have big-man depth.

In other news, the Bulls will hang on to forward Leonard Miller, whose $2.4-million deal became fully guaranteed on Tuesday. Miller showed some promise after arriving from Minnesota in the Ayo Dosunmu trade. Miller probably fits best as a tall, rangy small forward, but could play power forward in the right matchup.

The Bulls also released guard Kam Jones, the player they acquired from Indiana on Day 2 of the draft for a second-round draft pick. Those moves give the Bulls 12 players under contract for next season and three spots available to fill.

The obvious need is a shooting guard to fit between Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis in the starting lineup. With new head of basketball operations Bryson Graham on the job, there's probably no guarantee any existing Bulls are a lock to stay in town, although Buzelis seems least likely to be moved.

Some names linked to the Bulls on Tuesday include Cleveland's Max Strus, from Hickory Hills and DePaul. He was once a two-way player for the Bulls, but Arturas Karnisovas didn't plan on keeping him in that role, so Strus went to Miami and ended up starting for the Heat in the NBA Finals, then signing a free-agent deal with the Cavs in 2023.

The theory is the Cavs would like to lower their payroll to help with the tax bill, and the Bulls could absorb Strus' $16.6-million salary in exchange for some sort of draft picks. The 6-5 Strus, 30, was hurt most of last season, and averaged a career-best 12.2 points in 2023-24.

There was also a report the Bulls might be interested in bringing back free agent Anfernee Simons. He played in just six games for the Bulls after arriving from Boston in the trade for Nikola Vucevic. Overall last season, Simons, 27, averaged 14.3 points and shot 38.5% from 3-point range. He averaged 22.6 points for Portland in 2023-24.

Another name mentioned is veteran Norman Powell, 33, an All-Star last season who averaged 21.7 points in Miami. He's an unrestricted free agent who figures to have interest in joining a team with higher playoff aspirations than the Bulls. But they could always look for a reasonable deal that could make Powell very marketable at the trade deadline.

Including Miller, Collins, draft picks Caleb Wilson and Dailyn Swain, and expected trade addition Nic Claxton from Brooklyn, the Bulls have 13 players under contract for roughly $140 million, which means they have about $25 million left to spend under the new salary cap of $164.9 million, depending on how Collins’ deal is structured. They can also use the below-cap, mid-level exception of $9.37 million.