How NBA Shutdown Will Affect Otto Porter Jr. And Other Chicago Bulls Players

Chicago Bulls forward Otto Porter Jr. had just returned from a foot injury when the NBA suspended its 2019-20 season after Rudy Gobert’s positive coronavirus test last week. Porter missed four months with the injury and returned to play five games before the suspension, averaging 13.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 21.0 minutes per game off the bench while shooting 48.2% overall and 36.4% on 3-pointers.

Porter was hoping to finish the season strong ahead of his big decision in the summer. The 26-year-old has a $28,489,239 player option for the 2020-21 season, and he must decide whether to exercise that option or become a free agent.

With this current NBA season delayed without any resumption date in sight due to the fluid nature of this pandemic, Porter’s decision date will likely be adjusted as well, as noted by ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Porter currently has an option date of June 29, but if this season is played deep into the summer, that will likely be pushed back even if the Bulls themselves don’t play another game. If the season is canceled outright, the offseason dates may stay the same, depending on the timing of the cancellation.

At this point, it’s pretty safe to assume the Bulls’ season is either done or, at best, will only feature a few more games if the NBA is able to finish up a condensed regular season. Porter won’t get as much of an opportunity to show he’s fully healthy, which doesn’t help his cause ahead of his decision.

Furthermore, this hiatus will likely have an impact on the 2020-21 salary cap due to lost basketball-related income. It’s impossible to project right now, but Marks notes the NBA and NBPA could take a similar path as they did in 2011-12 and 2012-13, when they decided to keep the salary cap and luxury tax steady. If something similar happens, the 2020-21 cap would stay at $109.1 million instead of jumping to the $115 million it was projected to be at before the suspension.

This would limit the spending power of teams in free agency, and there are already only six teams (Knicks, Hawks, Pistons, Heat, Hornets, Suns) projected to have significant cap space. While Porter would be one of the better free agents on the market, this whole financial situation and his health questions make it seem likely he’ll simply exercise that gaudy player option for the 2020-21 season. The Bulls could then look to trade him, or perhaps they’re comfortable rolling with him on an expiring contract heading into next season. They shouldn’t even think about giving him a new long-term deal.

Aside from Porter, Chicago has three restricted free agents in Kris Dunn, Denzel Valentine and Shaquille Harrison. With everything in limbo at the moment, who knows when free agency will open, so these players could be waiting for a while before getting new contracts.

Dunn is currently recovering from an MCL sprain and was recently ruled out for the season. Perhaps he’s healthy if the season resumes down the road, but he might not even want to risk anything at that point. The 26-year-old is just six starts shy of meeting starter criteria, which would bump his qualifying offer from $4,642,800 to 7,091,457, but there’s no reason to expect this happens.

The ball-hawking guard made a name for himself with his elite defense before this latest injury, but his broken outside shot, considerable injury history and the limited money to spend across in the NBA in free agency will depress his market. Dunn looks more like a mid-level exception candidate. The full non-taxpayer mid-level exception started at $9,258,000 this past summer and would stay at a similar amount if the salary cap figure remains stagnant.

The Bulls will have the opportunity to negotiate a new contract or match any offer sheet. Dunn could also gamble by taking the one-year qualifying offer in order to hit the market in 2021 when more teams are set to have cap space (though the 2021-22 cap could be impacted as well by all this).

While Dunn’s defense is valuable, committing significant long-term money to a one-way player doesn’t seem wise given the state of the rebuild. Chicago could decide to keep the much cheaper Harrison around instead as a defensive energy guy off the bench. Harrison’s qualifying offer is just over $2 million. Dunn’s return shouldn’t be ruled out, though, especially if he could be had for a reasonable price.

As for Valentine, he has been in and out of Jim Boylen’s doghouse. The 26-year-old has a $4,698,198 qualifying offer and doesn’t seem to be in the Bulls’ future plans. Perhaps that changes, but Valentine may have played his last game as a Bull.

Chicago doesn’t have any other free agents on the 15-man roster, but Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen will be eligible for contract extensions this offseason, whenever that may be. As of right now, it’s hard to see anything getting done with these two as the franchise also makes changes in the front office.

LaVine still has two years, $39 million left on his deal and there’s no reason for the Bulls to commit to anything big now, as much as he has improved in recent seasons. Markkanen’s value is at a low point, so he’ll likely want to bet on himself and earn a bigger deal in 2021 than anything Chicago will offer in this upcoming offseason.

When that offseason takes place is anybody’s guess, and all we can do is wait.