Bulls legend Justin Holiday returns
Welcome back! Earlier tonight, Shams Charania of The Vertical reported that former Bulls swingman Justin Holiday would be returning to the Windy City on a two-year, $9 million contract. This will be his second stint with the team, having previously played 27 games for the Bulls after being swapped for Kirk Hinrich at the 2016 trade deadline.
Holiday was dealt to the Knicks at the season’s end as part of the Derrick Rose trade, and he’s coming off a fairly decent season for them that saw him average 7.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists while playing in all 82 games. The older brother of New Orleans’ Jrue Holiday, Justin is a serviceable bench wing that can shoot threes and play a little bit of defense on the side. He only shot 35.5 percent from deep last year, but made over 43 percent of his attempts in his 27 games with the Bulls in 2016.
There was speculation that Holiday would re-sign with the Knicks, but New York “never made a competitive offer to retain [him]”, per Ian Begley of ESPN. So, here we are. He’s not going to save the Bulls from the depths of tanking hell, but he will soak up valuable minutes at the small forward position, something that will be desperately needed in the wake of the Jimmy Butler trade. This is a pretty low-key signing for the Bulls, one that doesn’t indicate much of a long term investment nor move the needle in the present. Still, there are way worse and less watchable options at the backup wing spot out there, and the Bulls picked up a solid team guy that plays hard. These days, I guess that’s all you can really ask for.
