2 Ex-Bulls Sign With Rival Teams

Getty Ryan Arcidiacono

The list of former Chicago Bulls signing contracts with other teams keeps growing. On Sunday, Stadium’s Shams Charania had the news on the New York Knicks plans to sign Ryan Arcidiacono to a 10-day contract, that has a good chance of running through the remainder of the season.

Charania also had the word on the Milwaukee Bucks signing Luke Kornet to a 10-day contract. This came just after Kornet wrapped up a similar deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Like many teams, the New York Knicks roster has been decimated by COVID-19 issues and injuries. The Knicks lost former Bull and league MVP Derrick Rose to an ankle injury. He had surgery that will keep him out 2 months. Arcidiacono’s hard-nosed, defense-first style will likely be appealing to Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau.

Arcidiacono hasn’t played this season after the Bulls elected not to re-sign him following the 2020-21 campaign, but this could be a perfect landing spot for him.

Kornet was once mysteriously compared to Robert Horry by former Bulls head coach Jim Boylen.

Kornet is likely supposed to give the Milwaukee Bucks a bit of a Brook Lopez lite (still a generous, but more realistic comparison) while with the Bucks.

At his best, Kornet is a decent rim protector capable of knocking down the three. Unfortunately, he hasn’t shot the long ball well since he had a bit of a breakout season with the New York Knicks 2018-19 when he made 36% of his shots from long range.

In 49 games with the Bulls, Kornet only converted 28% of his threes while blocking 0.7 shots per game. So much for the Horry comparison.


Do the Bulls Miss Arcidiacono or Kornet?

The answer to that question is a swift: no. Some may make an argument the Bulls could use a big man like Kornet to back up Nikola Vucevic, but even with Tony Bradley’s poor hands, he’s still a better option.

Kornet is a little more NBA ready than Marko Simonovic, but he’s immobile on defense and also has yet to shoot the three as well as he did three years ago.

The absence of Arcidiacono has been even easier for the Bulls to absorb. Literally, every single Bulls guard who gets any number of minutes is vastly superior to Arcidiacono. Lonzo Ball starts along with Zach LaVine. Alex Caruso, Coby White and rookie Ayo Dosunmu are the other guards who have played major roles in the rotation.

Would anyone take Arcidiacono over any player from that group? We didn’t think so.


Lonzo Ball is Back

The Bulls have some good news and it is the return on Ball to the starting lineup for their Monday matchup with the Orlando Magic. The same can be said for Alfonzo McKinnie, who just might get the start at PF–if the also-returning–Billy Donovan doesn’t stick with Derrick Jones Jr. at the 4 like interim coach Chris Fleming did when Green went out with the groin issue.

Unfortunately, Caruso, Bradley, Simonovic and Green will still be out, so the team won’t be at full strength. The Bulls are still on a 7-game win streak without playing anywhere close to full strength for nearly a month–and that’s not even counting Patrick Williams’ absence.

Chicago fans are hoping the team keeps things rolling on Monday.

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