Bulls, Norman Powell Agree To Two-Year Contract

Powell, who turned 33 in May, has played some of the best basketball of his career over the past two seasons with the Clippers and Heat. He set a new career high with 21.8 points per game in L.A. in 2024/25, then nearly matched it this past season by putting up 21.7 PPG on .470/.380/.827 shooting for Miami.

Powell has battled health issues during that time and has only played more than 60 games once in the past five seasons, but when he’s healthy, he’s a big-time scorer and a major threat from beyond the arc. His 38.0% mark on three-pointers last season was actually well below his career percentage of 39.6%.

The Bulls will use their cap room to give Powell a starting salary far above what teams with the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($15MM) could have offered. Although the Heat held the veteran’s Bird rights, they were also unable to match Chicago’s bid, since they have little spending flexibility below a hard cap at the first tax apron.

Miami also won’t be able to turn Powell’s exit into a sign-and-trade, since Chicago has the cap space necessary to complete the signing outright and is doing a two-year deal (a player who is signed-and-traded must receive at least three years). The move is expected to essentially eat up the remainder of the Bulls’ room, as cap expert Yossi Gozlan notes (via Twitter). The team still has its $9.4MM room exception and one 15-man roster spot available.

Due to the structure of the contract, it’s possible Powell will emerge as a trade candidate at the 2027 deadline. It’s reminiscent of the two-year, $45MM deal that Bruce Brown signed with the Pacers during the 2023 offseason — that one also featured a second-year team option and Brown was traded ahead of the 2024 deadline as part of Indiana’s package for Pascal Siakam.

For now though, the Bulls envision Powell providing scoring punch on a retooled roster that features a young core of Matas Buzelis, Caleb Wilson, Dailyn Swain, Josh Giddey, and Noa Essengue. According to Johnson (Twitter link), Chicago zeroed in on Powell due to his ability to space the floor around several of the team’s non-shooters, as well as his veteran leadership.

Chicago’s roster moves so far this offseason may be influenced by the NBA’s changes to the draft lottery. In past years, the Bulls may have been more inclined to use their cap room to accommodate salary dumps to acquire additional assets, but with the league looking to discourage tanking by penalizing the teams who finish in the bottom three in the standings, teams like the Bulls have no incentive to bottom out.

As a result, Chicago has now committed a significant chunk of its cap room to land Powell and center Nic Claxton, two veterans who figure to play significant roles and help the club remain competitive in 2026/27.