Do Noah Vonleh or Zach Norvell Jr. Have Chance to Make Bulls’ Roster?
Understandably, it’s hard to get excited about Noah Vonleh and Zach Norvell Jr. if you’re a Bulls fan. After all, they have the two cheapest contracts of anyone on the roster who’s not a two-way player. With the roster needing to get down from the current 19 to 15 before the first regular-season game, they might just be filler until the cuts have to come. But what if they’re not?
You might recall that Vonleh played the final two months of the 2017–18 season with the Bulls. He’s bounced around since then with stints in New York, Minnesota and Denver. He spent last season with the latter two, averaging 3.7 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting a career-high 56.5 percent from the field over 36 games. All he got out of it for this upcoming season was a one-year contract that only will become guaranteed if he makes the roster.
Vonleh is one of seven power forwards the Bulls have, and there’s no question he has the least amount of leverage, including Cristiano Felicio. With all of that talent and money in front of him on the depth chart, Vonleh’s chances look slim. The best chance for him is if the Bulls quickly find a trade partner for Thaddeus Young and his expensive expiring contract, but that doesn’t seem likely. Fringe playoff teams will want to see how their seasons play out before even considering Young, so the best-case scenario for Vonleh to stay in the organization might be as part of the Windy City Bulls.
The G-League is a more plausible scenario for Norvell, who played all of five NBA games last season as a rookie between Golden State and the Los Angeles Lakers. His best game was Feb. 8 when his Warriors hosted those Lakers. He scored seven points via two 3-pointers and a free throw to go with four rebounds, two assist and two steals in 17 minutes. Other than that, he has yet to establish himself as an NBA player.
Norvell, a Simeon product, also needs some luck if he’s going to make the roster. The Bulls could spend the next couple of weeks shopping Tomas Satoransky, who has a nonguaranteed contract for next season, but they probably won’t want to eat into their shooting guard depth that early. Plus, Satoransky is coming off perhaps the best season of his career, so Billy Donovan undoubtedly will want to see if he can build on that. Norvell needs even more luck than Vonleh to get the chance to play for his hometown team.
Will it be impossible for Vonleh and Norvell to reach the promised land? No, but a lot of things will need to happen. There are so many players on the Bulls with more talent and a greater history of success, even if some of them took a downturn last season. While it’s too early to tell if Norvell and Vonleh have reached their ceilings, the Bulls are an organization with new blood that are out to right the ship as quickly as possible, and that means making smart decisions on all players at their disposal.
