The Bulls have signed center Diamond Stone
The Maryland big man is getting a second chance in the NBA
While the debate over whether the Bulls should have sold the draft rights to Jordan Bell rages on, the team will look to develop the center it signed Thursday. That center is Diamond Stone. Per Chris Reichert, the deal is partially guaranteed for two years and at only $50,000, so he could end up with the Windy City Bulls if he doesn’t break training camp. At 20 years old, he’s basically the equivalent of a second-round pick from this past summer, even though he’s entering his second season.
Stone, a Milwaukee native who was one-and-done at Maryland, was taken 40th by the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2016 draft but promptly flipped to the Los Angeles Clippers. A frustrating rookie season saw him move between and the NBA and G-League frequently. He played only seven games for the Clippers, averaging 1.4 points and 0.9 rebounds in 3.4 minutes a game while blocking exactly one shot during that time. Unremarkable, to say the least.
The Clippers decided they had no use for him and packaged him in the three-team trade that sent Jamal Crawford to the Atlanta Hawks and Danilo Gallinari from the Denver Nuggets to the Clippers. The Hawks waived Stone nearly a month later. He’s found work with the Bulls after a month-and-a-half.
Helping Stone’s case for making the roster is he’s the only true center besides Robin Lopez. But with that distinction becoming less and less relevant in the NBA, his fate mainly will depend on his ability and how he performs in camp and the preseason. Fewer exhibition games on the schedule mean fewer opportunities to show what he can do against live competition. That means the odds of making a team trying to develop Lauri Markkanen and still could bring back Nikola Mirotic aren’t as great as they otherwise might be.
If nothing else, he could bring excitement to Hoffman Estates. In 16 G-League games between Santa Cruz and Salt Lake City last season, he averaged 16.2 points and seven rebounds over 21.7 minutes a game. If you do the math, he didn’t play in that many games at that level either. Perhaps he’ll have better and more consistent opportunities with a new organization, even at a lower level that anyone with true NBA talent should be able to light up the competition.
While this isn’t an exciting move, it’s possible Stone’s name implies he’ll be a diamond in the rough (sorry, couldn’t resist). He also could break, even in the careful hands of a cutter. Either way, consider this the latest opportunity for a young player to make something of himself with the Bulls. It couldn’t possibly go worse than with Cameron Payne.
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