Goran Dragic and the Chicago Bulls have agreed on a one-year, $2.9 million contract. Several outlets reported on Sunday that seasoned guard Goran Dragic would sign with the Chicago Bulls as a free agent. There is currently one open roster spot for the Mavericks. Many Mavericks supporters had been speculating and hoping that this would be the year that Dallas finally signed Dragic, Doncic’s mentor, countryman, and longtime close friend.
In his 15th NBA season, Dragic will play for his sixth different NBA team in Chicago. In 21 games played with Toronto and Brooklyn together last season, he averaged 7.5 points and 4.1 assists.
Dragic spent the final month of the previous season with the Brooklyn Nets after the Miami Heat dealt him to the Toronto Raptors as part of the Kyle Lowry deal. The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, LA Clippers, and Milwaukee Bucks to sign the guard after his contract was bought out.
He only participated in 16 regular-season games for Brooklyn and had some difficulty after missing most of the season while playing for the Toronto Raptors. On the other hand, Dragic found his form in the postseason, averaging 10.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists while shooting 56 percent from the field in a little less than 20 minutes per game.
Dragic, 36, will be joining a Bulls team that had a promising start but eventually faded due to injuries, finishing 6th in the Eastern Conference before falling to Milwaukee 4-1 in the opening round of the postseason.
Dragic, 36, has played for Brooklyn, Phoenix, Toronto, Houston, and Miami throughout 14 seasons, averaging 13.7 points and shooting 36.2 percent from beyond the arc. He is from Slovenia, joined the Heat for the 2017–18 season, and assisted them in reaching the 2020 NBA Finals by being selected to an All-Star team.
For Toronto and Brooklyn last season, Dragic averaged 7.5 points while also shooting 25.4 percent from beyond the arc. The Bulls were last in attempts even though they were 4th in the NBA for 3-point precision.
With DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine paving the charge, the Bulls achieved their highest winning percentage in 7 years by winning 46 games. When they agreed last week on a five-year maximum contract with LaVine, they resolved their largest offseason problem.
It’s difficult to predict how significant Dragic’s role in Chicago’s backcourt, which already features Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, Coby White, and Ayo Dosunmu, and it’s never a terrible idea to have seasoned pros in your locker room, especially against a team like the Bulls that wants to compete in the tough Eastern Conference. Punters placing wagers on online NBA sports betting remain skeptical about the betting odds under such circumstances.
Goran Dragic will act as a sort of insurance since Ball is still recovering from a knee injury that kept him out for a significant portion of the previous season.
