Bulls quickly agree to new deal with White; add local point guard Carter; Rose goes to Memphis
The Bulls wasted no time when NBA free-agency opened on Friday, agreeing to re-sign guard Coby White then adding Proviso East grad Jevon Carter, according to multiple reports.
When it comes to the White price, there was disagreement. Chicago-based NBA insider Shams Charania tweeted White's deal is worth $33 million over three years. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said three years, $40 million. New deals can't be made official until Thursday.
Either way, it's a pretty good price from the Bulls' perspective. The team is hoping White is ready to make a significant jump, although his scoring average of 9.7 points was the lowest of his four-year career. The good news is his defense improved and he shot 41.3% from 3-point range after the all-star break.
White was a restricted free agent, so his representatives could have waited for an offer sheet from another team to arrive. Maybe it never would have happened, but they chose to close a deal quickly.
Carter, 27, reportedly agreed to a three-year, $20 million deal. The 6-1 guard has always been known as a strong defender, going back to his college days at West Virginia. He spent the past season and a half in Milwaukee, averaging 8.0 points and 2.4 assists in 22.3 minutes per game. He shot 42.1% from 3-point range last season.
Carter's deal will use roughly half the midlevel exception and it probably lessens the likelihood of Patrick Beverley returning. Derrick Rose, meanwhile, is off the board, agreeing to a two-year deal with Memphis. The Grizzlies will be without point guard Ja Morant when next season starts due to a league-imposed 25-game suspension.
The Bulls have another restricted free agent in Ayo Dosunmu and a couple unrestricted free agents with Derrick Jones Jr. and Javonte Green.
Just before the clock struck 5 p.m., the NBA released new salary-cap figures. The 2023-24 cap is $136 million and the luxury tax level $165.2 million.
The midlevel exception checked in at $12.4 million, which is significant because that's the Bulls' primary method for adding new free agents. The exception can be split between multiple players.
The first couple hours of free-agency featured plenty of reports of players agreeing to terms with their current teams, including Kyrie Irving with Dallas, Khris Middleton with Milwaukee, Draymond Green with Golden State, Jerami Grant with Portland, Kyle Kuzma with Washington, Caris Levert with Cleveland, Rui Hachimura with the Lakers, Herb Jones with New Orleans, Josh Okogie with Phoenix, Trey Lyles with Sacramento, Jakob Poeltl with Toronto, Kevin Love with Miami.
The most notable free agent changing teams was Rockford native Fred VanVleet, going from Toronto to Houston for a reported $130 over three years, Another switch was guard Bruce Brown, who is getting $45 million over two years from Indiana after a strong performance with Denver in the NBA Finals.
Philadelphia wing Georges Niang went to Cleveland for $26 million over three years. A couple other shooters changed teams, Joe Ingles to Orlando and Seth Curry to Dallas. Gabe Vincent jumped from Miami to the Lakers, who also added Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince.
One trade on Thursday saw the Brooklyn Nets sending 3-point specialist Joe Harris to Detroit for draft picks.
Summer league set:
The Bulls announced their summer league roster on Friday. It includes second-year wing Dalen Terry, rookie Julian Phillips, and some Windy City vets like Javon Freeman-Liberty, Daniel Oturu, Henri Drell and Ben Coupet.
Two-way player Justin Lewis is back after missing last season with a knee injury, along with a two-way addition, UConn center Adama Sanogo. The rest of the list includes guard Tyree Appleby, guard Nate Darling, guard Yago Dos Santos, guard Will Yoakum and center Jontay Porter.
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