NBA Notes: Bulls, Isaac Okoro, Warriors, Seth Curry, Heat

Bulls

New Bulls wing Isaac Okoro isn’t arriving in Chicago with grand illusions of taking over offensively.

Instead, he plans to lean into what made him valuable in Cleveland. Namely, defense and sacrifice.

“At the end of the day, you look at every team in the NBA. There are guys on winning teams that have to sacrifice,” Okoro said, via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Everyone in this league wants to score 20, they probably can score 20.

“They’re coming from being the best player on their high school team, college team, but people have to make sacrifices.

“In Cleveland I played my role of guarding the best player on the other team, being the hustle guy, and I don’t mind that.

“At the end of the day I want to win, so if that’s sacrificing, that’s the role that I will play.”

Okoro, acquired in the Lonzo Ball trade, figures to give Chicago a defensive stopper on the perimeter, something the team has lacked in recent years.

Warriors

The Curry brothers are teammates again. Veteran sharpshooter Seth Curry has agreed to a one-year deal with Golden State, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.

The terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but given the Warriors’ proximity to the second apron — and the new contracts for Jonathan Kuminga, Al Horford, and De’Anthony Melton — it’s expected to be a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contract.

That structure would keep Golden State under the hard cap while allowing Seth to be waived before opening night and potentially re-signed later on a prorated minimum deal.

NBA insider Marc Stein confirms that is indeed the plan.

Golden State’s interest in Curry has been on the radar since July, but the team waited to finalize roster moves while Kuminga’s restricted free agency dragged on.

Curry, 35, has carved out a strong career as a shooting specialist, bouncing around the league with stops in Memphis, Cleveland, Phoenix, Sacramento, Dallas, Portland, Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Charlotte.

Last season with the Hornets, he appeared in 68 games (14 starts), averaging 6.5 points in 15.6 minutes per night while hitting 45.6% from deep. He owns a career 43.3% three-point mark.

Heat

Norman Powell thought he had a case to make his first All-Star team last season with the Clippers. Instead, he was left out — and it’s still fueling him as he begins his new chapter in Miami.

“I definitely have a chip from feeling like I could have made it,” Powell told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “I should have made it last [season]. It added fuel to the fire this summer on how I am going to capitalize on this [season], that I have to make sure that I’m a surefire pick for an All-Star selection.

“Finding out that it is in L.A. would definitely be a little punch there to make it. To play All-Star Weekend in Intuit would be amazing.

“But yeah, I’m definitely excited about the opportunity to go at it again and have a chance to finally get selected.”

Powell averaged 17.0 points in 75 games last season while shooting 48.6% from the field and 43.5% from three.

He’ll give Miami an additional scoring punch on the wing as the Heat look to reestablish themselves in the East.