While the Bulls have been in talks with some bigger free agents such as Lonzo Ball, the small depth signings could be very important to this team. There is a solid class of veteran contributors that could help out this Bulls team.
Ellington has been an NBA journeyman. He has been all over the league playing the same role for some time now. Plain and simple, Ellington can shoot it. With Garrett Temple and Denzel Valentine both free agents this offseason, the Bulls need some wing depth. The Bulls two stars are great shooters, but they have lacked a true three-point specialist for years now. A career 38.2% three-point shooter who has only gotten better over the years could be something useful to the Bulls.
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He would obviously come off of the bench and be LaVine’s backup. He would be a nice veteran presence for the team. The Bulls have an extremely young team and Ellington has been around the league. For the most part of his career, he has been a part of some pretty bad teams, but hopefully, he can be a part of a Bulls team that will be competing in the next few years.
JaMychal Green has been a valuable role player for a few years now. He has the versatility on defense to guard forwards and centers. He can stretch the floor fairly well. Green shoots a very high percentage from 3-point range, just on minimal attempts. That percentage still requires defenders to know where he is on the floor and close out on him when he has the ball.
He has been a contributor on some good playoff teams for the past couple of years, but it still peculiar how he is yet to carve himself out a bigger role. He is a great defender who can hold his own when switched onto guards and is a very real threat from beyond the arc. That alone screams valuable to any team in the league, but he has struggled to break twenty minutes per game for the last few seasons.
Green would be a great fit alongside Vucevic. Thaddeus Young has been a great signing for the Bulls, but as discussed here, he is likely better suited at the five and a backup to Vucevic. Green can come in immediately and start. His defensive versatility would be greatly valued alongside someone like Vucevic.
Portis may win himself a ring this year. He has become a very large part of the Bucks roster. Could a return to the team he was drafted by make sense? He put up solid numbers for the Bulls during his first couple of years, but those were some pretty bad teams where the numbers did not amount to much. Portis left and his game has grown a lot. He showed some of his shooting ability in Chicago, but it has become such a large part of his game now.
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He is also very capable when defending the pick and roll. Game one of the NBA finals can attest to this. Mike Budenholzer trusts Portis to guard guards. When Lopez is in the game, they were playing drop coverage, but when Portis is in, they switch. While Chris Paul and Devin Booker still poured in some buckets on these switches, Portis was still in front of them.
He has become a very underrated player and he could fit alongside Vucevic. While he may also be best suited at the center, he has shown the foot speed to stick at power forward. The Bulls would welcome him back with open arms.
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