The Bulls and Derrick Jones have agreed to a new two-year contract that will keep the free agent forward in Chicago, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, Jones’ two-year deal will be worth $6.6M, with a second-year player option.
Chicago held Jones’ Early Bird rights, but a deal completed using the Early Bird exception can’t include a second-year option, so the team is likely renouncing its Early Bird rights and making Jones a Non-Bird free agent. The Bulls would then be able to complete the signing without dipping into their mid-level exception.
Jones, 25, appeared in 51 games for Chicago in 2021-22 after being acquired from Portland in an offseason trade. He averaged 5.6 PPG and 3.3 RPG on .538/.328/.800 shooting in 17.6 minutes per contest.
While Jones hasn’t made a major impact on the offensive end since entering the NBA in 2016, his athleticism and his ability to guard multiple positions on defense have continued to earn him regular minutes.
The Bulls now project to be about $3.5M below the luxury tax line with 14 players under contract, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype.
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