Free agent guard Talen Horton-Tucker will reportedly be signing with his hometown Bulls. According to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, the five-year veteran will sign an Exhibit 10 deal for training camp.
Shams Charania of The Athletic, who broke the news of both deals, said that Horton-Tucker and Mac McClung (Magic) received partially guaranteed contracts. From the players’ perspective, that’s not wrong in a sense — the Exhibit 10 language in their contracts makes them eligible for a bonus worth $77.5K (on top of their G League salaries) if they’re waived and spend at least 60 days with their clubs’ NBAGL affiliates.
It is misleading though, because for NBA teams, Exhibit 10 deals are one-year, minimum-salary contracts that are non-guaranteed. For example, if Horton-Tucker is immediately cut after the deal is official, the Bulls won’t carry any dead money toward the salary cap. That’s different than a player like Keon Johnson — if the Nets waive him today for whatever reason, they would owe him his full $250K partial guarantee while carrying an identical dead-money cap hit for 2024/25.
Here’s more from the Central:
- In another story for NBC Sports Chicago, Johnson attempts to predict the Bulls‘ starting lineup and rotation. Despite the obvious defensive shortcomings, Johnson believes Josh Giddey, Coby White, Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams and Nikola Vucevic is the “most logical” outcome for the starting five. However, only Ayo Dosunmu and free agent addition Jalen Smith seem like locks for rotation minutes off the bench, per Johnson.
- Eric Nehm of The Athletic answers mailbag questions related to the Bucks, including whether they should reduce Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s workload during the upcoming season to try to keep him fresh ahead of a potential playoff run. Nehm also examines whether Taurean Prince could be used at power forward in small-ball lineups featuring Antetokounmpo at center.
- Will the Pistons carry a 15th player on their standard roster to open the season? What about their remaining cap room — will they use it before the season starts or carry it over until the trade deadline? Keith Langlois of Pistons.com explores those questions.