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TORONTO — The Chicago Bulls on Tuesday waived point guard Goran Dragić, clearing the veteran to potentially join a new team ahead of the Wednesday deadline for playoff eligibility.
Dragić’s exit wasn’t a surprise given his months of diminishing production. He was forced to the bottom of the point guard depth chart after the Bulls last week signed Patrick Beverley, pushing Ayo Dosunmu into a reserve role.
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The Bulls sit $1.2 million below the luxury-tax threshold with an open roster spot that could be filled in the final weeks of the season. Ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Raptors, coach Billy Donovan said he wasn’t certain if the front office plans to fill that slot. He described the waiver decision as the result of reciprocal conversations between Dragić and the front office.
“The conversations were probably pretty mutual in terms of coming to a conclusion of how we could help Goran in this situation,” Donovan said.
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At the start of the season, Dragić offered a boost off the bench. He averaged 8.1 points and 3.4 assists against only 1.2 turnovers through his first two months with the Bulls, providing a spark as the bench buoyed the often slow-moving starting lineup.
But Dragić quickly regressed. His shooting plummeted — 22.7% from 3-point range in January, 20% in February — and his production dwindled. The Bulls bench already struggled because of injuries to Alex Caruso and Javonte Green, and the group only worsened behind Dragić’s stagnancy, averaging only 27.6 points, the fifth worst in the league since the start of January.
Dragić, 36, sat out of the last four games with left knee soreness and nursed a variety of injuries — including a shoulder strain in his shooting arm — throughout the season.
“I don’t want to speak for him just because he’s a guy that never makes excuses,” Donovan said. “He owns however he plays when he steps between the lines, and I respect that about him.”
Dragić’s exit will help the Bulls clarify their point-guard rotation after moving Beverley into the starting lineup. The Bulls have tinkered with a smaller lineup featuring Beverley and Caruso, which offered a heightened defensive energy over a limited sample size.
The Bulls will continue to rotate Caruso, Dosunmu and Beverley in a variety of rotations.
“We’ve kind of played that position by committee,” Donovan said.
