The Chicago Bulls may look at adding another point guard for depth behind Derrick Rose and Aaron Brooks this summer and players like Pablo Prigioni, Donald Sloan or Andre Miller could be free agent targets and this comes as Taj Gibson could be on the trade block this year with the emergence of Nikola Mirotic, while Doug McDermott was very impressive playing in the NBA Summer League.
The Bulls have been fairly active this offseason, changing head coaches from Tom Thibodeau to Fred Hoiberg and signing back both Jimmy Butler and Mike Dunleavy. The Bulls made sure to keep Dunleavy after he had heavy interest from the rival Cavs and they also locked up Butler on a max extension. Heading into the end of July the team could look at adding another guard or big man, as former executive Bobby Marks writes that the team has needs at backup center and point guard, even with Brooks back.
Derrick Rose was healthy for most of last season, but the Bulls may want another point guard or shooting guard on the roster as insurance. Brooks was solid last season and the team also has E'Twaun Moore, Kirk Hinrich and Tony Snell. Hinrich also dealt with injuries last season and according to Marc Stein at ESPN, Sloan has had interest from the Bulls, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Washington Wizards. Prigioni was just traded in the Ty Lawson deal and he likely will be waived from the Nuggets, according to Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports.
The Bulls may look at a Taj Gibson trade at some point this year, as the team has plenty of depth at forward. According to the Chicago Tribune, Gibson "could come up" in trade talks this year, as the team liked what they saw from Nikola Mirotic as a rookie and the depth with Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, Cameron Bairstow and the newly drafted Bobby Portis gives the team some flexibility. Gibson did just undergo ankle surgery and will need a few months to recover, so he could end up being a trade deadline target over a summer trade option.
Gibson was solid last season averaging 10 points and six rebounds per game, but he may be getting too expensive to justify his role on the team moving forward. Gibson is owed over $8 million in each of the next two seasons and with Mirotic, Gasol and Portis on the roster, he could get pushed back as he recovers from ankle surgery. If Portis plays well he will be a much cheaper option at forward and could help to push Gibson out in a trade to free up cap space for the Bulls.
Other free agent options on the market include Nazr Mohammed, Kendrick Perkins and Greg Stiemsma as players that could help in the front court behind Noah. Yahoo Sports reports that Prigioni likely will be waived over the next 24 hours, as his contract will become more expensive if he stays on the roster. Doug McDermott has played well in the NBA Summer League and his promising performance could lead to more minutes this season with the Bulls. McDermott played eight minutes per game last season and this summer he averaged 18.8 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field in Summer League play in Las Vegas.
Check here for more on the Chicago Bulls offseason moves, the play of McDermott or for more on the potential trade with Taj Gibson.
