Chicago Bulls: 3 recently waived players to add late in camp

Recently waived players for the Chicago Bulls to target: Edmond Sumner

One of the more surprising players that was waived in the last few weeks around the NBA landscape is the former Indiana Pacers athletic guard Edmond Sumner. Traded from the Pacers to the Brooklyn Nets last week, it didn’t take too long for Sumner to hit waivers. The Nets waived Sumner a little bit less than one week after they landed him in that aforementioned trade with the Pacers.

Just as it looked like the Pacers were going to make Sumner more of an integral part of the rotation down the stretch last season, the direction of the franchise changed. The Pacers parted ways with now-former head coach Nate Bjorkgren after just one season at the helm. He was replaced by the former Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle, who returns to Indy heading into the 2021-22 campaign.

Sumner likely didn’t fit with what the Pacers were trying to do under Carlisle moving forward. Carlisle has valued volume-scoring athletic guards in the past. But Sumner likely doesn’t have the floor spacing ability that the new Pacers coaching regime was looking for. He’s still developing in that regard.

What Sumner did show with the Pacers down the stretch last season is something that the Bulls front office apparently values this year. The Bulls added a lot of athletic and solid on-ball defenders that can also get to the rim effectively on offense heading into camp and the preseason. Sumner definitely fits that mold.

It’s just not that often that you see a guard that had as much recent success as Sumner did with the Pacers late last season hit waivers during the following preseason. Last season, Sumner averaged 7.5 points per game, 1.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.2 blocks. And he shot 52.5 percent from the field, 39.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 81.9 percent from the free-throw line.