NEWSLETTER
With Friday’s free agency inching closer and closer, the Chicago Bulls are getting their ducks in a row.
According to Keith Smith of Spotrac, the organization has extended qualifying offers to both Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White. The Bulls also reportedly extended a two-way QO to Terry Taylor, who signed to take over Malcolm Hill’s two-way contract spot in February of last season.
To be sure, the QOs for both Dosunmu and White come as no surprise. The Bulls must extend the contracts to both players in order for them to become restricted free agents as opposed to unrestricted free agents later this week. Chicago now has the right to match any offer sheets that another team throws their way.
Arturas Karnisovas already clarified during his pre-draft press conference that the organization would give Dosunmu and White the QOs:
“Yes,” Karnisovas said when asked if Dosunmu and White would receive offers. “Like I said, we talked about at the end of this season about Coby and Ayo. They’re developing young players, so we’re going to address that in free agency.”
White’s qualifying offer comes in at about $7.4 million for next season. The full expectation is that he will turn that deal done, as it’s easy to foresee him inking a deal with an AAV worth nearly double that amount. As for Dosunmu, it’s easier to see a world where the 23-year-old picks up his $5.2 million offer.
After stagnating a bit during his sophomore campaign, it’s possible he doesn’t find a higher per-year salary than that in the open market. He could simply bet on himself and hope to show even more improvement in Year 3 before heading into next season’s free-agent class. With that said, the Bulls might also have a keen interest in signing him to a multi-year deal. So I wouldn’t be shocked to see him return on something like a two-year contract that starts at that same QO number.
Lastly, I’ll be interested to follow Terry Taylor this offseason. We’ve seen the Bulls swap out two-way contracts plenty over the past couple of years, so it’s possible Taylor doesn’t start the season with the team. I would expect him to pick up that QO, though, as I’m not sure a team out there would be prepared to give him a full-time roster spot. Not to mention, there could be a legitimate path to earning playing time in Chicago with a relatively limited depth at the power forward position right now.
If Taylor does accept, I’ll be curious to know what that means for Justin Lewis. Let’s not forget that the Bulls also reportedly signed UConn big man Adama Sanogo to a two-way contract immediately after the draft. In the past, NBA teams had just two two-way slots to open, but (if I’m not mistaken) the new CBA has increased that number to three, which could leave the door open for Lewis to return on a two-way deal again. The other option could be signing him at the minimum to a full-time spot on the bench.
