The Chicago Bulls walked into the 2023 NBA Draft with zero picks. They traded their first in the Nikola Vucevic deal, one second in another trade, and had their other second stripped after the NBA concluded they tampered when signing Lonzo Ball.
However, while they began the night with zero selections, they came away with a couple of intriguing young talents. One of which, Julian Phillips of Tennessee, they traded into the draft to pick, and the other, they decided to sign after the event concluded. Chicago made noise in the undrafted free-agent market after the draft, nabbing a potential backup center.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Bulls have signed UConn center Adama Sanogo to a two-way contract for the 2023-24 NBA season.
“Undrafted UConn center Adama Sanogo has agreed on a two-way contract with the Chicago Bulls, sources tell ESPN,” Wojnarowski tweeted.
Undrafted UConn center Adama Sanogo has agreed on a two-way contract with the Chicago Bulls, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 23, 2023
Sanogo won the NCAA National Championship with the Huskies in 2023, bringing a winning culture to the Bulls locker room.
He spent three seasons with UConn, improving every year. The 6-foot-9 big man put up 17.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game his junior year, shooting 60.6 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from behind the three-point line (on only 52 total three-point attempts all season).
Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer compared Sanogo to Serge Ibaka and Kevon Looney in his pre-draft scouting reports, listing his best attributes as interior scoring, positional versatility, and hustle.
The 21-year-old will join a center rotation of Vucevic and Andre Drummond in Chicago, giving them a nice young player to mentor.
