Chicago Bulls: 3 players to avoid in free agency this offseason

3) Chicago Bulls free agent targets to avoid: Jordan Clarkson

There’s a few things that the Bulls really could use in this cycle of free agency, and one of them is not a volume scoring guard that can play off the bench. That’s why the Bulls should really be avoiding any potentially costly free agent target (in terms of price tag on his next contract) that fits the bill of someone like the former Mizzou Tigers 6-foot-4 and 195 pound combo guard Jordan Clarkson.

This 28-year-old Tampa, FL, native has played with three different teams over the course of seven years in the NBA to date. He was a really solid value find for the Washington Wizards in the second round (46th overall) in the 2014 NBA Draft. Clarkson played in four seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers at the outset of his NBA career, and then three with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and now part of one with the Utah Jazz.

Clarkson split his run during the 2019-20 season between the Cavaliers and Jazz. The Cavaliers parted ways with him a little bit before the trade deadline. And he played in 71 games during the shortened 2019-20 regular season between his time with the Cavs and Jazz (starting in just two of them).

He averaged 15.2 points per game, 2.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.2 blocks. And Clarkson shot 45.4 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 83.6 percent from the free-throw line.

It’s not at all that Clarkson is a bad player, he’s just not what the Bulls need to fill out in their rotation in this cycle of free agency.