Bulls sign Emanuel Miller to a two-way deal |
Things haven't been going well for the Bulls lately, and that is just par for the course for this organization. Since the beginning of Billy Donovan's tenure, the Bulls have the talent to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, but for whatever reason, they have been stuck in neutral.
To make matters worse, the Bulls are still holding on to one of the final play-in spots for the postseason, which would mean they would vacate their first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs. The only way for them to keep that pick is to finish with one of the worst records in the league, but with several talented players still remaining on this roster, they may not be bad enough to fall that far. While most fans don't pay attention to the G-League, the Chicago Bulls have done a great job adding some talented players to their roster and that continued Saturday as F Emanuel Miller and the Bulls have agreed to a two-way contract as he will report to Windy City. Not only was this a surprising pickup, but seeing the corresponding move was even more surprising as the Bulls waived their leading scorer in the G-League and Chicago area native DJ Steward who was also on a two-way contract. The 6-7 Miller will add some size to an overall small Windy City lineup and brings plenty of College and G-League experience. After spending five seasons between Texas A&M and TCU, Miller went undrafted in last season's NBA draft before latching on with the Texas Legends of the Dallas Mavericks organization. Given that he averaged 15.8 PPG and 6.1 RPG during his final season in college with the Horned Frogs, many felt he was at least worth a second-round pick, so getting him as an undrafted player was seen as a value for the Mavericks. Miller would go on to show flashes of potential during the Summer League, which helped him land a contract with the Legends, where he has put up great numbers ever since. During his time with Texas, Miller averaged 18.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.1 steals over his 16 games played. That would rank in the top three for the Windy City Bulls, so they are getting a solid player at the very least. Along with the overall strong numbers, Miller is coming off one of his best showings of his career, when he dropped 32 points to go with 14 rebounds against the Mexico City Capitaines earlier this month. He will now take Steward's roster spot going forward and is, at the very least, worth a closer look when you dive into his numbers. Looking at size and comparing it to what the Bulls already have, Miller is another one of those tweener-type players who doesn't have a true position at this point. He does, however, bring with him some physicality to the wing position, which is something this organization has lacked all season. Miller has also turned into a decent long-range threat, shooting 37.8% from distance this season after going 38.3% last season in college. Considering he was barely above 30% during most of his collegiate career, you can see the work he has put into becoming a better shooter, and it has paid off in a big way. The bigger surprise was seeing which player the Bulls released as part of the deal. They had three two-way contracts to decide between: Steward, EJ Liddell, and Adama Sanogo. Sanogo had some NBA experience and provided the Bulls with some size, so he was the least likely option to move on from. Steward seemed like a lock to remain with the Bulls, as he was the team's leading scorer in the G-League, averaging over 21 PPG. That included a perfect 7-7 from distance in his last game, as he continued to play well. Liddell seemed like the obvious choice for the Bulls to move on from, given that Miller plays the same position, offers similar size, and doesn't have the injury history that Liddell has. The Bulls felt differently as they chose to go with more size and added Miller to their roster, thus releasing Steward as part of the decision. This may not be that bad of a decision for choice because his play has more than earned him an opportunity elsewhere with another franchise. Hopefully, he will get that opportunity and can continue to prove his worth in this league.
