BIG3 Rumors: 8 players the Chicago Bulls could sign

A couple of players in the BIG3 right now are rumored to have worked out for NBA teams. Could be the Chicago Bulls be a good landing spot for those few?

There’s the possibility of the Chicago Bulls signing one or two more players before the start of the 2019-20 regular season. But with the free agent market drying up so much, could there be a place that the Bulls pull from that’s out of the ordinary.

Alternative leagues to that of the NBA, NFL, etc. tried this year to make a run at becoming a feeder back to the top levels of competition. BIG3 lines up well with what the Bulls could be looking for in the free agent market. Finding a three-and-d wing that could plug a hole in the rotation could come from the BIG3 ranks.

In the case of the NFL, the league that looked like it might actually be able to feed into it was the Alliance of American Football. Similar to what basketball fans get out of the BIG3, the AAF had premier talent short of what the NFL and college football brought to the table. The BIG3 does have players that could still play in the NBA today.

Granted a lot of the players competing in BIG3 now are well beyond their prime years and just bring back fond memories from yesteryear for basketball fans. Former NBA stars like Cuttino Mobley, Corey Maggette, and Gilbert Arenas fit that bill.

The BIG3 also made the surprising move to cut down on a lot of the talent that it drafted to its 12 teams before this season. Lamar Odom and Jermaine O’Neal were two of the players cut from the BIG3 that were just drafted this year.

Yet, with all this in mind who are the eight players competing in the BIG3 right now that the Chicago Bulls (or G-League affiliate Windy City Bulls) should actually consider signing.

The team that Anthony Morrow ended his NBA career on was the Chicago Bulls. In the back end of the 2016-17 regular season, Morrow wound up with the Bulls in the final year that Jimmy Butler was also on the team. That largely meant that Morrow was going to come off the bench in limited minutes behind “Jimmy Buckets”.

If the Bulls are looking to add another three-and-d wing to fill the rotation, turning to the former NBA role player Morrow wouldn’t be the worst move. Morrow doesn’t have a long time left to make it back to the NBA. He’ll be 34-years-old at the outset of the 2019-20 regular season. That will leave him with maybe two years left to make it back.

Morrow is balling out with Bivouac in the BIG3 right now. He’s looking to lead Bivouac to the playoffs. Those will begin next week at the home of the New Orleans Pelicans Smoothie King Arena. The BIG3 ends on Sep. 1 in Los Angeles. Morrow will get one more opportunity at least to make his mark this summer if his team is in the playoffs

This season in the BIG3, Morrow was one of the better shooters from three-point range. He also has multiple four point hits this year. If Morrow is a capable floor spacer that can also add a veteran voice to the locker room and off the bench as a wing, this could be a good add. The Bulls definitely need more veteran wing depth which is where Morrow could pick up where he left off.

The Chicago Bulls are mostly set in the frontcourt, but adding a player that never really got his chance to shine in the NBA due to outside issues is the 28-year-old Royce White. His only three games he played in the NBA were with the Sacramento Kings during the 2013-14 regular season. That wasn’t near enough for him to prove himself, but he is surely making his mark with the BIG3.

White is playing with Enemies in his first season in this league. He was also the first overall pick in the 2019 BIG3 draft. He is surely a hot commodity in the BIG3 world right now. As a top producer in blocks and scoring this summer with Enemies, White could be trying to get himself on the road to an NBA comeback.

The 6-foot-8 White deserves a second chance in the NBA if he’s ready to head down that path. Starting out for the coming regular season, White will be 28. That is more than young enough for him to get off to a good start on his journey back to the NBA.

The intrigue surrounding White should be his two-way potential and quickness that fits well with the modern NBA. He’s also a low risk option that a team like the Bulls could slot down in the G-League for a year or two. White would likely take a bit of time to get up and running before any NBA team would put him back out on the floor in a regular season game.

Taking a flier out on the aging former Golden State Warriors guard Will Bynum would be a risk for the Chicago Bulls. But it might be one worth taking given his overall athleticism and ability to command the floor. Bynum is putting on an absolute show with Bivouac this season. Along with Morrow, Bynum could have a once sliding Bivouac team heading to the playoffs next week.

NOLA would get a treat to see a former Pelican like Morrow and the agile and efficient Bynum. As a former member of the Warriors, Washington Wizards, and mostly the Detroit Pistons, Bynum definitely has a lot of NBA experience under his belt that is valuable for the BIG3. He’s showing that down the stretch during this regular season.

It almost seems like Bynum is carving out a James Harden-like role for himself with Bivouac in the BIG3. He’s taking a lot of shots, but doing so efficiently. He’s also getting to the foul line a lot, which is a potent way to blow up the box score in the BIG3. Bynum is one of the 10 best scorers in the league this summer.

The clock is running out on when Bynum could actually make a return to the NBA. His final year in the NBA was back in 2015. But this could be the spark he needs to get another shot in the G-League or deep down an NBA bench. If the Bulls decide to move a piece like point guard Kris Dunn before the regular season arrives, Bynum could be an option.

If not for bad knees holding him back, former Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire could still at least be a solid contributor in the NBA. He was a stud scorer for the Suns in the days where he and star point guard Steve Nash were making runs to the NBA Finals and Western Conference Finals during the 2000’s. The Suns were actually a fun to to watch back then.

However, the Chicago Bulls could use a version of Stoudemire that produced at a relatively high level in limited minutes off the bench. If NBA teams are still interested in getting Amar’e back into The Association, then why should John Paxson and Gar Forman be of a different mindset?

Stoudemire reportedly had an NBA workout with multiple teams in attendance during the  Summer League in Vegas. If the Bulls want to add another veteran presence that’s been there and done that, then look no further than Stoudemire. It could be a fun combo for the Bulls to have both former Indiana Pacers forward Thaddeus Young and Stoudemire coming off the bench.

In the BIG3 this summer, Stoudemire is playing with a former Bulls player, point guard Nate Robinson. Nate and Amar’e make for one of the most entertaining duos in the entirety of the BIG3. Could the Bulls come through on pulling that entertainment factor to the Windy City anytime soon?

A former member of the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, and Houston Rockets, among other NBA teams, Joe Johnson is breaking records in the BIG3 this summer. On Aug. 17, Johnson broke the BIG3 single season scoring record with 175 total points on the year. He’s setting the league on fire with his torrent scoring pace. But he’s efficient while doing so.

That sounds like a factor that would still be valuable to bring to the table off the bench in the NBA. But the last time that Johnson was still a relatively efficient scorer in the NBA was back in the 2015-16 season with the Nets and Miami Heat. His time with the Rockets was brief and not very productive.

Johnson will be 38-years-old when this coming NBA regular season begins. Even though he’s in the latter stages of his 30’s he still looks to be in incredible shape. His teammates really only have rave reviews about his scoring ability. Johnson is leading the league in scoring, and guided his team (Triplets) to the best regular season record at 7-1.

Could Johnson till succeed in the NBA at this age? We could only know if he makes a return to the NBA or the G-League.

For a team like the Chicago Bulls that could still use scoring help at the wing off the bench, Johnson is definitely worth a look. The show he’s putting on in the BIG3 this summer should give Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen and the front office a big reason to look his way.

There are two players on this list that have legit cases to be solid long-term contributors  in the NBA again if they head down the right path. Those two players in the BIG3 now are Royce White and the former Milwaukee Bucks big man Larry Sanders.

Sanders will be 30-years-old at the outset of the 2019-20 NBA season. That would give him more than enough time to get a few solid years in the NBA under his belt before his career is officially in the books. Sanders already spent more than six seasons in the NBA before reported mental health concerns among other off-the-court distractions pushed him out.

There are instances where Sanders looks absolutely dominant in the BIG3. With the 3-Headed Monsters, Sanders is making his mark. On Aug. 17 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Sanders wreaked havoc down low against the former BIG3 Champions Power to potentially solidify a playoff spot. He sits among the league leaders in blocks and rebounds.

The pure size and athleticism that Sanders brings to the table could make him a very useful big off a number of NBA benches. He also fits the mold of what Boylen seeks out of a big man deeper in the rotation. Sanders is a legit candidate to get a good two-way or NBA contract within the next year or so.

Speaking of entertaining duos in the BIG3, the former Heat role player combination of point guard Mario Chalmers and stretch forward Rashard Lewis brings a whole new level of excitement to this league. Lewis and Chalmers won a title together in Miami and got to experience the very peak of NBA success through the playoffs.

If Lewis’ BIG3 team, the 3-Headed Monsters, is able to make it into the four-team playoff field in NOLA next week, then we could be in for a treat in the midst of the dead period of the NBA offseason. Chalmers and Lewis are putting on a show the last couple weeks.

At age 37, Lewis would only have about another year or two left of NBA action. He wouldn’t be able to handle heavy minutes either. But, he’s the perfect fit for the modern NBA. The Chicago Bulls could play Lewis off the bench in a multitude of different looks and lineups. Boylen should love that idea of having Lewis in the mix.

The last season for Lewis in the NBA came with the Heat. He actually played in 60 games and got six starts in his final NBA season before ending his career as we know it and joining the BIG3. That seems like Lewis ended his NBA journey slightly short. Maybe he could get one more year of NBA contributions before officially calling it quits.

It wasn’t all that long ago that the NBA career of wing Brandon Rush was cut too short by various injuries and consistency issues. Rush did have a good run in the NBA, but his career was notoriously memorable as that of a journeyman. He actually had more starts than not in his final year in the NBA to date, which was with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Three-and-d wings in the BIG3 right now soon to enter their mid-30’s could be a gold mine for NBA teams that have a rotational need to fill there. That almost exactly fits the bill of what the Chicago Bulls are seeking out. Rush and Morrow stick out as two solid potential targets for the Bulls to go after.

If the Bulls could add either Morrow or Rush, it would be a great way to round out the rotation with a shored up wing spot. Rush was also an NBA Champion with the Warriors back in 2014-15. He’s been on multiple solid NBA teams, so that experience would be a great addition to the locker room for the Bulls.

Rush is better than a career 40 percent shooter from beyond the arc and he registered a .051 defensive win share per 48 rating in his more than seven seasons in the NBA. He should be more than welcome back in the NBA. That should be an opinion that is shared by a number of players around the NBA and BIG3.