Chicago Bulls: 4 risky free agents worth the gamble

Free agents worth the gamble for the Chicago Bulls: Richaun Holmes

Different from the reason why it would be a risk for the Bulls to pursue Millsap in free agency this summer, going after the Sacramento Kings breakthrough big man Richaun Holmes would mean buying high on someone more expensive than ever before. Holmes was getting an annual salary just north of $5 million on his last contract with the Kings.

That will not be the asking price moving forward for Holmes, as he just had the best season of his career to date. And really over the course of the last two seasons, Holmes took his game to a new level in a more prominent role with the otherwise struggling Kings.

Holmes was a steadying force for the Kings’ frontcourt rotation as others like center Hassan Whiteside and former Duke Blue Devils power forward/center Marvin Bagley struggled to find traction.

There’s a good possibility that the Kings try to bring back Holmes this summer, but he’s going to have a number of other suitors too.

The purpose to the Bulls pursuing Holmes would mostly be if they’re not able to re-sign the former Boston Celtics big man Theis ahead of next season. Holmes could be an efficient traditional center for the Bulls like Theis was down the stretch last season.

If the asking price for Holmes stays around $7-$9 million this summer, then he should be a consideration at a minimum for Karnisovas and the Bulls. Assuming that the Bulls are likely to bring back Theis heading into next season, there would be less of a need to sign Holmes.

Either way, this would be a decent free agent signing that would upgrade the Bulls’ bench, or starting unit if they wanted to play him alongside Vooch.