The Chicago Bulls agreed to a two-year, $9 million deal with Justin Holiday. It was one positive in what has been a very depressing free agency period.
The Chicago Bulls haven’t exactly had the best summer. In fact, their trading of superstar Jimmy Butler and the No. 16 overall pick (Justin Patton) to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the No. 7 overall pick (Lauri Markkanen) could go down as one of the worst trades in recent memory.
The organization has been reluctant to officially start a rebuilding process. Trading Butler showed that they are finally committed to starting that process.
As they begin to attempt to fix their franchise, the Bulls made a good decision by agreeing to a deal with shooting guard Justin Holiday. Shams Charnia of The Vertical reported that the Bulls and Holiday agreed to a two-year, $9 million deal after the New York Knicks renounced him, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.
This will be Holiday’s second stint with the Bulls. In 2015-16, he played in 27 total games, averaging 6.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 18.4 minutes per game. He was then included in the trade that sent both he and Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks. Last season, Holiday appeared in all 82 games for the Knicks, averaging 7.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 20 minutes per game.
Although this isn’t a blockbuster signing by any means, it can be viewed as a bright spot for a very dark summer in Chicago. The Bulls are clearly beginning the rebuild mode and Holiday will help contribute well to that process. The fact that they signed him for so cheap is also a plus. There were a handful of teams that were rumored to be interested in Holiday, and the fact that the Bulls got him for so cheap is a positive.
At 6’6″ with long arms, Holiday has some nice size that also allows him to be an effective defender. His active hands help him jump passes and spark fastbreak opportunities. The Bulls won’t be looking to break teams down in the half court next season if they have the choice. They have a number of 22-25-year-olds that make up their roster that would be most beneficial consistently getting out into the open floor.
Holiday, 28, won’t be a foundation piece as the guys in their young 20s will be, but he’ll be able to fill the role of coming off the bench and supplying the Bulls with a scoring threat.
Holiday should continue to improve with more opportunity as he did last season in New York. LaVine is recovering from a torn-ACL that he suffered last season, so Holiday and Dwyane Wade will be receiving the bulk of minutes at the beginning of the season depending on LaVine’s status.
Most fanbases like to push the “blow it up” envelope over social media if their team isn’t a clear championship contender. The Bulls have been in a state of purgatory ever since the days of head coach Tom Thibodeau leading a young, healthy core of Rose, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng.
Next: 2017 NBA free agency tracker - Grades for every deal so far
Now with the organization being fully invested in the process of rebuilding, let’s see how ready the fans of Chicago really are.
Grade: B