On July 8th, 2024, Jalen Smith signed a three-year, $27 million contract with the Chicago Bulls. This came two weeks after he declined his player option to remain with Indiana and took a slight pay cut to test the market. If he had stayed in Indiana, he would\u2019ve made closer to $10 million this year rather than the $9 million average salary over the next three years. At only 24 years old with five years of NBA experience under his belt, coming off a career-best year shooting nearly 60% from the field and over 42% from three-point land, this was a slam dunk free agency add for the Bulls. After letting Andre Drummond walk, Chicago was in the market for a backup center and got a young stretch five that agreed to a team-friendly deal. How has his first chunk of games gone, and is he fulfilling expectations for Billy Donovan and company?<\/p>\n
Jalen Smith added another young asset to a core that is primarily under the age of 25. Outside of Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, who are currently being dangled in trade talks, the rest of the significant pieces for Chicago are under 25 and as young as 20. Smith adds another versatile player who can shoot the three-point ball at an average rate for a power forward, can stretch to the center position and play small, faced pace ball when needed, and has held his own defensively against opposing bigs. If he can develop into a starting center, mainly after Vucevic has departed, he\u2019ll be the cheapest starting center in the league. If things don\u2019t work out or he has already reached full potential, he\u2019s an inexpensive, solid bench option to play the four or five.<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n