Bulls Make Roster Move With Giannis’ Brother, Rearrange Two-Ways

Getty Kostas Antetokounmpo handles the ball during a bout with the Milwaukee Bucks.

It wasn’t the big move that some are anticipating with their season quickly getting away from them, but the Chicago Bulls just made a pair of roster moves. And if you were someone who happened to be daydreaming about the Greek Freak one day cruising down I-94 to set up shop and save the Windy City franchise, it wasn’t good news.

But there may just be something to be gained on the actual hardwood.

Per an announcement from the team on Friday, the Bulls have officially parted ways with two-way baller Kostas Antetokounmpo, the brother of Milwaukee Bucks star and two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. They didn’t waste any time filling his spot, either.

Along with the aforementioned waiving, the Bulls also announced that they had signed point guard Carlik Jones to a two-way contract.

Carlik Jones Has Impressed Under the Bulls’ Watchful Eye

Jones’ name should be familiar to fans — the former Louisville standout spent his summer league with the Bulls, after which he received a training camp deal with the club. And, more recently, he’s been lighting it up for Chicago’s G League affiliate.

The 24-year-old has appeared in 14 Showcase Cup games for the Windy City Bulls to date, averaging 20.9 points, 7.6 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals per outing. Along the way, he has hit pay dirt on 52.9% of his shots from the field and 43.1% from long range.

Of course, rocking the G League is not a new concept for the 6-foot-1 Jones. He earned All-NBA G League and G League All-Rookie honors last season as a member of the Texas Legends.

Whether Jones will see more court time than the 56 total minutes Antetokounmpo got with the team remains to be seen. However, with Lonzo Ball’s return in doubt, Ayo Dosunmu getting banged up recently, Goran Dragic being 36 and Coby White looking like potential trade bait, having another point-man in the mix can’t hurt.

Bulls coach Billy Donovan has definitely been known to experiment with his rotations, too.

As for Giannis one day calling the United Center home, well…

Bulls Move Up a Spot in Power Rankings

In terms of sheer wins and losses, things have been going less than swimmingly for the Bulls in recent weeks, as the team had lost five of its previous seven games entering Friday’s rematch with the New York Knicks.

However, a blowout win over the Dallas Mavericks and a pair of overtime losses to the aforementioned Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks saw the team rise a spot — from 23rd to 22nd — in the latest edition of Bleacher Report‘s NBA power rankings. Although the Bulls write-up wasn’t exactly positive.

Via B/R’s Andy Bailey:

With a recent report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski casting doubt on Lonzo Ball returning at any point this season, the Chicago Bulls may have to entertain something of a teardown.

DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vučević are both in their 30s, Chicago has lost five of its last seven and the top of the East features some contenders the Bulls almost certainly can’t compete with (healthy or not).

Right now, the team is minus-1.1 points per 100 possessions when both are on the floor. If they can be used to fetch some longterm assets (as they would in the rumored framework that brings back Russell Westbrook’s expiring contract and some picks), the Bulls might have to pull the trigger.