Bulls sign Temple to 1-year deal
Valentine receives 1-year qualifying offer worth $4.7M
The Bulls and veteran guard Garrett Temple agreed to a one-year contract, his agency Priority Sports announced Friday night.
The deal, whichwas first reported by ESPN, is said to be worth $5 million. The acquisition of Temple adds an experienced player to one of the youngest rosters in the league and creates some wing depth off the bench. For a young team that struggled to close out games last season, Temple’s addition in the locker room should be beneficial.
The Bulls also are bringing back forward Denzel Valentine, who agreed to sign a one-year, $4.7 million qualifying offer Saturday morning, according to the Athletic.
Temple, 34, appeared in 62 games (35 starts) for the Nets last season and averaged a career-best 10.3 points with 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. His 3-point shooting percentage from down last season (32.9%), but he has been solid from beyond the arc in his career (34.7%). Temple was also a respected veteran in the Nets’ locker room and is one of seven National Basketball Players Association vice presidents.
As the Nets were ravaged by injuries last season, Temple even made spot starts at point guard, so he could aid the Bulls with playmaking and ballhandling responsibilities. Asolid defender, he fits the front office’s plan to make the Bulls more versatile and find players who can contribute on both ends of the floor.
The Bulls did not have much flexibility to work with during free agency, with their roster spots at near capacity and only a midlevel exception (up to $9.3 million) and biannual exception ($3.6 million) available to add players, which is why vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said the team would be “really picky” in free agency.
Adding shooting to the roster has been a priority for Karnisovas, which is why the team moved to retain Valentine. He appeared in 36 games for the Bulls last season after missing the entire 2018-19 season while battling a left ankle injury, and averaged just 6.8 points, but he is a career 36.6% 3-point shooter.
While the Bulls moved to retain Valentine, they did not extend a qualifying offer to Kris Dunn, and the guard found a new home Saturday, signing a two-year, $10 million deal with the Hawks. Dunn was one of the centerpieces — along with Lauri Markkanen and Zach LaVine — of the trade that sent Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2017. Dunn never panned out as the point guard of the future, but last season he carved out a new role and committed to becoming a lockdown defender.
Even though Dunn transformed himself into one of the league’s best perimeter defenders, his 3-point shooting dipped to 25.9%.
The addition of Temple and retention of Valentine will put the Bulls at the maximum 15 guaranteed contracts once No. 4 pick Patrick Williams signs his rookie contract.
Temple’s contract is not for the full midlevel exception, which can be split among multiple players, so the Bulls still have room to add another player. But because their roster is nearly full, the Bulls likely would have to create another roster spot to do so.
Should they want to do so, they could waive a little-used players on the end of the bench — Cristiano Felicio is on an expiring contract— and eat a portion of their salary for next season. Or they could clear some room in a trade.
It seems likely the Bulls will start the season with much of the roster intact, returning the major pillars froma team that maintained a 22-43 record when their season abruptly ended because of COVID-19 in March.