Jalen Smith agrees to three-year, $27 million deal with Bulls

Jalen Smith agrees to three-year, $27 million deal with Bulls

In lieu of losing Andre Drummond in free agency, the Chicago Bulls have swiped free agent big man Jalen Smith away from the Indiana Pacers on a three-year, $27 million deal, ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski was first to report Monday.

Drummond signed a two-year, $10 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers on the opening day of free agency. That left a clear void in the frontcourt behind big man Nikola Vucevic.

The former No. 10 overall pick has spent roughly the last two-and-a-half seasons with the Indiana Pacers. He played in 61 games last season, averaging 9.9 points and 5.5 rebounds in just 17.2 minutes per game; on a per-75-possession basis, Smith posted averages of 20.3 points, 11.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, making a clear impact whenever Myles Turner and Isaiah Jackson weren’t on the court.

Though Smith was still played out of the rotation in the postseason, averaging just 1.9 points and two boards in 42 total minutes. Who knows what Indiana’s plan is for 2024 second-round pick Enrique Freeman, but it appeared that Smith wanted a bigger role regardless after declining his $5.4 million player option ahead of Saturday’s deadline.

It’s unclear or not whether the 6-foot-10 big man will eat into Chicago’s mid-level exception since the Bulls don’t have any available cap space. His starting salary is projected to be $8.6 million in 2024-25, per Spotrac.

The Bulls previously traded Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey while bringing back free agent wing Patrick Williams on a five-year deal. They still have decisions to make on DeMar DeRozan plus they should figure out how they want to navigate the Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball contracts before October arrives with no real answer right now.

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This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.

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