The Chicago Bulls made a move at the trade deadline. No, it wasn’t moving Jimmy Butler and it wasn’t acquiring Jahlil Okafor. They sent out Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott, along with a pick, for Cameron Payne, Anthony Morrow, and Joffrey Lauvergne.
Related Story: Bulls Weekly Grades: Feb. 26 Edition
This is the first real roster movement of any kind by the Chicago Bulls since the start of the season, unless you count the whole R.J. Hunter saga. Let’s take a look at each of the players acquired. For this piece, we’re focusing on Anthony Morrow.
Player: Anthony Morrow
Position: Shooting Guard
Remaining Contract:
2016-17 $3,488,000
The Morrow contract expires at the end of this season. I’m slightly surprised that there haven’t been any talks about waiving or buying out Morrow’s deal. He’s going to be gone and that isn’t surprising. He doesn’t offer much and hasn’t found his way off the bench since arriving in Chicago. If they make a deep playing run, he might find himself on the court, but I’d bet against it. No idea why the Bulls were interested in taking on this contract other than the fact that it expires very soon.
Career Info: 8-year Veteran
Morrow has been around the NBA block. He started with the Golden State Warriors in the 2008-09 NBA season, and he played with the Nets – while they were still the New Jersey Nets.
More from Bulls News
- The dream starting 5 for the Chicago Bulls 5 years from now
- Bulls’ Ayo Dosunmu inspires the future with new school program
- Chicago Bulls NBA 2K24 full roster ratings, risers, and fallers
- Bulls sign a pair of promising guards to Exhibit 10 contracts
- When does NBA Training Camp start? Dates Bulls fans need to know
During his first seasons in the league, he averaged more than 10 points per game each year, but has managed that with just one team in one season, 2014-15 with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He could pose some value for the Bulls if he was shooting around his career average from 3-point range, 41.7 percent. Unfortunately, he’s having an abysmal season, shooting less than 30 percent from deep.
In a roundabout way, he’s a perfect fit for Chicago. Yet another guard who either cannot connect from deep right now, or in the case of many of his new teammates, never could.
Role for Bulls: Somewhere away from the court
Honestly, it feels like he might need to hit 100 3-pointers in a row in front of Fred Hoiberg for him to get any playing time. Really, his only role on this team feels like it would have to come in a scenario where they need 3-point shooting, something Chicago is either unaware of or just hates. It’s all counterintuitive. They want to play their young players down the stretch to get a feel for what they have on this roster going into the offseason, but if they make the playoffs and cut their rotation down to eight or nine guys, Morrow seems like the kind of guy Hoiberg would lean on despite not playing him during the regular season. That’s assuming he hits the 100 3s in a row, though.