Sources: Bulls agree with free-agent C Jalen Smith on 3-year, $27M deal, adding youth, frontcourt depth
CHICAGO — The Bulls have continued their offseason youth movement, signing 24-year-old free-agent center Jalen Smith, formerly of the Indiana Pacers.
According to ESPN Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski on Monday morning, sources told ESPN that Smith’s agents reached a deal with the Bulls overnight on a three-year, $27 million contract.
Smith was drafted No. 10 overall by the Phoenix Suns out of the University of Maryland in 2020. The Suns reached the NBA Finals during Smith’s rookie season, losing the Milwaukee Bucks in six games, but Smith played just 18 minutes across six games that postseason.
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He was traded by the Suns, along with a second-round pick, in February 2022 to the Indiana Pacers for Torrey Craig.
In July 2022, Smith signed a multi-year contract with the Pacers.
Over two-plus seasons with Indiana, Smith appeared in 151 games, including 49 starts, and averaged 10.2 points, six rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game. He helped the Pacers reach the Eastern Conference Finals last season but didn’t play much in the playoffs, averaging 1.9 points and two rebounds in six minutes per game.
While Smith likely isn’t considered a centerpiece, he adds frontcourt depth to a Bulls roster that Artūras Karnišovas, the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations, appears to be intent on reshaping with young pieces.
Late Saturday night, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that sources confirmed the Bulls and 22-year-old forward Patrick Williams, who Chicago drafted No. 4 overall in 2020 — six picks ahead of Smith — have agreed to a five-year, $90 million contract for him to remain with the Bulls.
Coby White, drafted seventh overall by the Bulls a year before Williams, is still just 24 and is coming off a breakout 2023-24 season. Earlier this month, the Bulls traded Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey, who’s only 21.
And in last week’s draft, the Bulls selected 19-year-old Matas Buzelis — a Chicagoland native who played one season of high school basketball at Hinsdale Central — at No. 11 overall.
Per the NBA’s offseason calendar, free agents can’t actually sign until 11:01 a.m. on July 6, so the deals for Williams and Smith — along with other free-agent deals around the league being announced — can’t be made official until then.
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