Chicago Bulls: 3 overseas players to consider signing in free agency

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Joe Young (Photo by STR / AFP) / China OUT (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images) /

3) Chicago Bulls overseas free agent targets: Joe Young

One former second round pick in the NBA Draft, of the Bulls divisional foe Indiana Pacers, guard Joe Young put up some insanely impressive stats while playing in the Chinese Basketball Association this year. Once the 2020 CBA season started up after a brief delay in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Young really couldn’t be stopped.

During the 2020 CBA season, Young played in more than 40 games with Nanjing. He averaged just shy of 39 points per game, 4.7 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 2.3 steals. And Young shot 50.6 percent from the field, 36.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 89.0 percent from the free-throw line.

No matter which professional basketball league you’re playing in overseas, those numbers are impressive and should be catching the eye of a lot of NBA scouts.

In the last seven games of the 2020 CBA season, Young really couldn’t be slowed by anyone. There were only two occasions in those seven games to round out the season that was for him where he was held under 51 points. One of those games even saw him put up a whopping 74 points and eight steals.

Once again, those are numbers that should be easily catching the eye of a lot of NBA scouts this offseason.

This 6-foot-2 and 180 pound Houston, TX, native and ex-Oregon Duck was originally picked by the Pacers 43rd overall in the second round of the 2015 NBA Draft. He played in bits and pieces of three different seasons with the Pacers. In 127 career regular season games played, Young averaged 14.2 points per 36 minutes, 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.1 steals.

And in his career in the regular season in the NBA, Young shot 39.3 percent from the field, 29.3 percent from beyond the arc, and 76.8 percent from the free-throw line.