Recently waived players for the Chicago Bulls to target: Luka Samanic
Maybe the most intriguing name to hit waivers in the last few weeks in the midst of Training Camp and the preseason is the now-former San Antonio Spurs 6-foot-10 and 230-pound power forward Luka Samanic. It’s interesting that the Spurs were willing to part ways with Samanic this early on in his NBA career.
While Samanic certainly wasn’t stellar for legendary head coach Gregg Popovich and the Spurs in his first two seasons in the NBA, he wasn’t bad either for his age. It looked like the Spurs were investing a lot in Samanic, drafting him 19th overall in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft.
The Spurs did start to adjust the way they used Samanic last season compared to his rookie campaign. He shot the ball better last season but didn’t register as many assists or rebound as efficiently.
That likely had to do with the fact that the Spurs played Samanic more in the frontcourt than they did as a true forward. Samanic played essentially all of his minutes at the three or the four during his rookie season. But he moved to play all of his minutes between the four and the five last season.
It’s not any hidden statistical brilliance or even a great stretch of late for Samanic in the preseason or the Las Vegas NBA Summer League that causes me to say that he should be a target of the Bulls. This is a big man/forward that still has a lot of potential if he plays most of his minutes with a good supporting cast at the four. He could have a potent role if the Bulls were willing to hand him a two-way contract.