Bulls sign F Stanley Johnson with hardship exception

The Bulls are signing forward Stanley Johnson by using a hardship exception, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Johnson was playing in the G League for the South Bay Lakers, but was with the Bulls during training camp.

The Bulls evidently applied for and were granted the hardship exception after Matt Thomas became the fourth member of the team to enter the league’s health and safety protocols.

Johnson, 25, was the No. 8 pick in the 2015 draft by the Pistons. He spent his first three-plus seasons in the league with Detroit before being traded to the Pelicans in 2018-19. Johnson played for the Raptors the past two seasons and was a regular rotation player last season, averaging 4.4 PPG, 2.5 RPG and 1.5 APG in 61 contests for the club (16.5 MPG).

Johnson is a strong, physical athlete and solid defender, but shooting has limited his effectiveness in the NBA. In 331 career games (19.7 MPG), he holds averages of 6.2 PPG 3.1 RPG and 1.4 APG on .375/.298/.761 shooting.

In six games with South Bay this season (30.5 MPG), Johnson put up 15.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 2.2 SPG with a .405/.286/.750 shooting line.