Chicago has agreed to a three-year, $41-million deal with power forward Thaddeus Young, Chris Haynes of Yahoo reported. It can't become official and be signed until the league moratorium ends next Saturday.
Young, 31, averaged 12.6 points and 6.5 rebounds in 30.7 minutes for the Pacers last season. He started all 81 games he played in and shot 52.7 overall and 34.9 percent from 3-point range. Young has career averages of 13.4 points and 6.0 rebounds in 12 NBA seasons, across which he's been a respected locker room presence as well.
The Bulls started young building blocks in center Wendell Carter Jr. and power forward Lauri Markkanen last season before injuries took their toll. With that in mind, the 6-foot-8 Young projects to be the third member in the big man rotation. The Bulls do like the idea of utilizing Markkanen at center more often.
The Bulls entered free agency with around $23 million in cap space, so Young's contract will eat up more than half of that. Chicago still has ample cap space to add a point guard, which is believed to be a priority for the franchise. The Bulls also will have the mid-level room exception of about $4.7 million to use.