The Bulls have officially brought back undrafted rookie forward Justin Lewis on a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release. The signing became official on Monday, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
A former Marquette standout, Lewis had a breakout sophomore season in 2021/22, averaging 16.8 PPG and 7.9 RPG in 32 games (32.2 MPG) for the Golden Eagles. Although he wasn’t selected on draft night, he quickly caught on with the Bulls on a two-way contract and played for Chicago’s Summer League team in Las Vegas in July.
However, Lewis suffered a knee injury during an August workout that was later diagnosed as an ACL issue requiring surgery. The 20-year-old stayed under contract with the Bulls until the end of the preseason, at which point he was waived to make room for new two-way signee Kostas Antetokounmpo. Reporting at the time indicated that Lewis would remain around the team while he went through his rehab process, using Chicago’s facilities.
Now, with just over a month left to go in the 2022/23 regular season, Lewis is back under contract with the Bulls. It has been less than seven months since he went under the knife following his ACL injury, so it’s unclear whether the 6’8″ forward is actually ready to suit up for Chicago or the team’s G League affiliate (the Windy City Bulls) down the stretch.
However, the fact that the Bulls brought back Lewis for the final few weeks of this season suggests that the organization remains high on him, so he could be in the team’s future plans. We don’t know yet whether his two-way deal will just be for the rest of this season or whether it will cover 2023/24 as well.
Chicago recently promoted two-way player Carlik Jones to its standard roster, so Lewis will fill the open spot previously occupied by Jones.