Chicago Bulls: 3 players that won’t mesh with Billy Donovan

3) Chicago Bulls players that are the worst fits with Donovan: Cristiano Felicio

It’s not necessarily that the Brazilian 6-foot-10 and 270 pound big man Cristiano Felicio is a poor fit with Boylen or Donovan. He’s just not really a big man that belongs on a 15-man NBA roster. Felicio was handed way too large of a contract a few years ago, making him one of the most overpaid players not just on the Bulls roster, but in the entire NBA.

Felicio is due a little more than $8 million through the remainder of his contract which carries through next offseason. But if the Bulls feel they have a chance to make significant strides next season, and fill that roster spot that Felicio currently occupies, with a more promising big man then he needs to go.

Stretching and waiving Felicio wouldn’t be the worst idea for the new front office regime, and it likely wouldn’t sound bad to Donovan either. They also need to figure out what to do with the former New York Knicks seven-footer and center Luke Kornet.

Felicio played in 22 games during the shortened 2019-20 regular season with the Bulls (none of which he started in). He averaged 3.9 points per game, 4.6 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.5 steals, and a miserable 0.1 blocks. Felicio shot 63.0 percent from the field and a rather surprising 78.3 percent from the free-throw line.

There’s other promising big men that the Bulls have on the current roster that should be getting more minutes than Felicio. If they want to play him at the four, then the likes of rookie big man Daniel Gafford, veteran forward Thaddeus Young, and power forward Lauri Markkanen, all deserve more minutes.