Believe it or not, it appears the Chicago Bulls aren’t done making moves this offseason just yet, as they’ve announced their decision to sign a pair of interesting prospects in free agency. Guards Quenton Jackson and Max Heidegger will officially be headed to Chicago to prepare for the 2023-24 season on Exhibit 10 contracts.
An Exhibit 10 deal is a one-year, non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract commonly used to bring in additional talent for training camp. What makes these deals particularly interesting is that they can be converted to two-way deals before the season begins, so they provide a unique opportunity to crack the main roster by outpacing their competition in training camp.
Another important caveat is that Exhibit 10 contracts allow the team to control the player’s G League contract rights. Even if the player who signs an Exhibit 10 contract fails to make the main roster, if he manages to register at least 60 days with the G League team, he’s eligible to receive $50,000. These deals give interesting prospects a real shot in the NBA while also maintaining next to zero risk for the franchise that offers them.
The Bulls broke the news via their official X (formerly Twitter) account earlier this evening.
Roster Update: We have signed guards Quenton Jackson and Max Heidegger to Exhibit-10 contracts. pic.twitter.com/eGNVrnJD14
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) September 8, 2023
Quenton Jackson and Max Heidegger will be interesting players to keep an eye on for the Bulls in training camp.
Quenton Jackson is a particularly interesting prospect here, as after three impressive seasons with Texas A&M, he worked his way onto the Washington Wizards as a rookie last season. Jackson averaged 16.5 points and 4 assists in two games in the G League for the Capital City Go-Go before getting bumped up and playing nine games with the main roster. Jackson was incredible in the season finale against the Rockets, scoring 19 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field while also contributing 5 assists and a pair of steals.
Meanwhile, Max Heidegger has been cutting his teeth internationally for the last three seasons. Heidegger starred as a sophomore for UC Santa Barbara, averaging 19 points while knocking down over 40% of his three-point attempts. After he failed to improve on that outing in the final two years of his collegiate career, Heidegger went overseas and has done very well for himself. He even averaged 19.5 points and 6.3 assists last year in Turkey’s top basketball league, providing a little more hope that he could one day become a high-volume shooter for an NBA team one day.
If neither player manages to usurp one of the Bulls’ trio of two-way contracted players — Justin Lewis, Adama Sanogo, and Onuralp Bitim — they’ll likely join the Windy City Bulls to partake in some G League action this season. Chicago’s G League affiliate has recently produced some notable talent, including G League Rookie of the Year Antonio Blakeney in 2018 and G League MVP Carlik Jones in 2023.
For the first time since 1985, the Bulls will be hosting training camp away from home. On October 2, Jackson and Heidegger will join the rest of the team in flying to Nashville after media day concludes to conduct a five-game training camp at Belmont University. After that, the NBA preseason shall begin and we’ll finally begin ramping up for another exciting season.