Central notes: bulls, griffin, Oladipo, dollars

The Bulls will have to make decisions about three young players, including two 2016 lottery draw choices, when those players will benefit from a free limited agency during the 2020 low season. Kris Dunn, Denzel Valentine, is Shaquille Harrison It makes sense that the new Chicago front office is ready for some debate, according to NBC Sports Chicago’s Rob Schaefer.

Although 26-year-old Dunn (number 5 chosen by Providence in 2016) is a strong defender, his terrible shots will limit his usefulness for the Bulls. Schaefer expects Dunn to play the 2020/21 season with his $ 7.1MM qualifying offer for the 2020/21 season without reaching a long-term deal with the club.

Schaefer also expects Harrison to offer his qualification offer with significantly smaller minimum wages. Johnson is less optimistic that the Bulls keep the injury prone (the number 14 chosen by Michigan State in 2016), which appeared in just 170 of the 311 games possible during his four-year term on the Bulls.

There is more outside the central division:

• For the overwhelming pistons, a healthy Blake Griffin could perform better on the commercial market than in the center Andre Drummond he’s been able this season, writes Pistons.com’s Keith Langlois.
• ESPN’s Kevin Pelton details the consequences of Pacers guard Victor OladipoThe decision to give up on restarting the NBA’s Orlando season. Aaron Holidays seems to absorb most of the minutes of Oladipo and Pelton anticipates that the level guard will start in the defense zone alongside Malcolm Brogdon. Brogdon has recently proved positive for COVID-19, but expects to join the Orlando team once he has recovered.
• During the NBA season hiatus, the team with the best record employed creatives outside the box thinking about staying active, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Lori Nickel. Nickel details 53-12 Bucksintriguing practices. “It was strange” All Stars Khris Middleton he told reporters on a conference call today. “Usually we are all encouraging each other, talking to each other, joking each other, playing music.”