Getty The Chicago Bulls are one of several teams linked to veteran free-agent wing James Ennis.
The Chicago Bulls‘ roster rebuild is nearly complete.
Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley have torn down almost all remnants of the old tenants with Zach LaVine and Coby White the only two players left from the previous regime.
The roster stands at 16 players after the signings of Stanley Johnson, Matt Thomas and Alize Johnson on Monday.
Despite needing to trim the roster to 15 or fewer players by the end of training camp, the Bulls are still reportedly trying to add more competition.
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Bulls Interested in James Ennis
Chicago was recently linked to veteran forward James Ennis, who is garnering interest from the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trailblazers as well, per HoopsHype‘s Michael Scotto.
“James Ennis has drawn interest from the Blazers as well as the Bulls, Lakers, and Magic, I’m told,” Scotto wrote.
The Bulls have added wing depth throughout the offseason but still lack a true small forward.
“The Bulls and Blazers both lack wing depth, and Ennis would be a strong fit for either,” CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn wrote. “Chicago in particular doesn’t have a pure small forward on its roster, so Ennis could work his way into a meaningful role there.”
As a two-way player and respectable three-point shooter, Ennis, 31, could carve out a role for himself on the Bulls roster, boasting a career 35.7 clip from beyond the arc.
He’s coming off a 2020 season where he averaged 8.4 points per game, 4 rebounds per game and shot 43.3% from long range with the Orlando Magic. His effective field-goal percentage of 56.6% was the second-highest mark of his seven-year career.
There are stronger wing options available in free agency like Patrick Patterson. However, Scotto reported Patterson is garnering interest from the Trailblazers and did not mention the Bulls in his report.
Ennis would likely warrant a veteran minimum contract which could prove cost-efficient heading into the season.
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Bulls Projected Roster
The Bulls are nearing the final number of bodies the organization will need between its everyday lineup, reserves and two-way players.
Here’s a look at how the full roster would pan out currently:
PG: Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso
SG: Zach LaVine, Coby White
SF: DeMar DeRozan, Troy Brown Jr., Derrick Jones Jr.
PF: Patrick Williams, Alize Johnson
C: Nikola Vucevic, Tony Bradley,
Reserves: Ayo Dosunmu, Stanley Johnson, Javonte Green, Marko Simonovic
Two-Way Contracts: Devon Dotson, Pending Signing*
The starting five features three players — LaVine, DeRozan and Vucevic — who all averaged 20 or more points per game last season. Two distributors averaged five or more assists per game in DeRozan (6.9 APG) and Ball (5.7 APG), giving the Bulls plenty of options on offense.
The bench is burgeoning with upside with an average age of just 23.7 years old.
Defense will be the biggest question mark surrounding the season as the Bulls attempt to make the postseason for the first time since 2017.
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