Category: Chicago Bulls Blog

The Chicago Bulls announced today the signing of free agents Ryan Allen, Vance Cooksey, Andre Emmett, Kyrylo Fesenko and Marko Jaric to round out their 2012-13 training camp roster.

Allen (6-3, 200), a rookie guard out of UW-Milwaukee, earned Horizon League All-Defensive Team honors last year, as he averaged 8.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.2 apg and 1.06 spg in 29.1 mpg .  A native of Chicago, Allen attended Thornton Fractional High School in Harvey, Ill.  His brother Tony is a member of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Cooksey (6-0, 175) spent last season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the Texas Legends in the NBA D-League.  In 38 D-League games, he posted 8.8 ppg, 4.8 apg, 2.6 rpg and 1.10 spg in 23.9 mpg.

Emmett (6-5, 230) split last year with the New Jersey Nets and the Reno Bighorns of the NBA D-League.  In six games with the Nets last season, he recorded 2.2 ppg and 1.0 rpg in 7.5 mpg.  While with the Bighorns, he averaged 23.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.70 spg and 36.7 mpg.

Fesenko (7-1, 280), a veteran of 135 NBA games (seven starts), played in three games with the Indiana Pacers last year.  During his time with the Pacers, he posted 2.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 0.70 spg in 5.7 mpg.  For his NBA career, the Ukraine native has averaged 2.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg and 8.2 mpg.

Jaric, a seven year veteran of the NBA, has previously played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota and Memphis.  In 447 career games (221 starts), he has averaged 7.1 ppg, 3.6 apg, 2.7 rpg and 1.30 spg in 25.2 mpg.  Jaric last played in the NBA in 2008-09, as a member of the Memphis Grizzlies.  He spent the 2011-12 season with Montepaschi Siena of the Italian League.

The Bulls will open training camp today with Media Day at the Berto Center, prior to tomorrow’s first practices of the season.

Chicago’s roster now stands at 18.

Scottie Pippen is not bankrupt — but according to a federal judge, he cannot sue anyone that said he was.

As TMZ first reported, Pippen sued a TON of media outlets for defamation back in 2011 after they published articles claiming he was broke. As proof he’d never gone belly up, Pippen said he has never worth less than $40 million at any point in the last 10 years.

Pippen wanted $1 million from every media outlet that said his finances were in the toilet.

— Reported by TMZ.com

Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan surprised his former teammate Scottie Pippen for Pippen’s 47th birthday party Monday night. Pippen’s wife, Larsa, planned the secret bash at Chicago hot spot Sunda. Bulls family, including team president Michael Reinsdorf and his wife, Nancy, NBA power broker William “World Wide Wes” Wesley, Antoine Walker, Ahmad Rashad, and new Bulls recruit and Chicago native Nazr Mohammed gathered to celebrate at the club with Pippen.

— Reported by the New York Post

The Chicago Bulls have invited veteran center Kyrylo Fesenko to training camp on a non-guaranteed contract, according to sources close to the situation.

Sources told ESPN.com that Fesenko is on course to sign with the Bulls by week’s end after working out for team officials this week.

Chicago has been searching for an established big man willing to come to training camp on a non-guaranteed deal because league rules prevent the hard-capped Bulls from handing out any guaranteed deals heading into the season.

— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

When video of his season-ending ACL tear injury was played during a promotional event on Thursday, Derrick Rose broke down into tears, according to multiple Chicago media outlets.

The Chicago Bulls point guard was promoting his latest shoe at an Adidas promotional event and said that rehab on his torn ligament that he suffered in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals vs. the Philadelphia 76ers was going well. He announced that he’s making steady progress by doing jumping and shooting drills, while working on his core through workouts.

Rose had surgery on May 12 and is expected to miss eight to 12 months, cutting into the 2012-13 season. It is not determined if or when he will come back but Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has made it known that he doesn’t want Rose to play unless he’s 100 percent.

— Reported by Scott Gleeson of USA Today

Rose tore the ACL late in the Bulls’ playoff-opening win over Philadelphia, a huge setback that sent them spiraling toward a first-round exit after capturing the top seed in the East. The injury is expected to keep him out for a major chunk of the season. And even when he returns, it remains to be seen when or even if he’ll regain the explosiveness that made him one of the game’s best players.

“Everybody says All-Star break (to return), but we don’t tell him that,” older brother Reggie Rose said. “It’s really just his mental psyche. That’s the major thing we have to work on and his (confidence) playing with the injury, just knowing it was an injury and it’s not still an injury.”

Derrick Rose has been rehabilitating in California. That figures to change with training camp starting in a few weeks, but the results so far have been good.

— Reported by Andrew Seligman of the Associated Press

Video of Derrick Rose crying

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, who is expected to miss the majority of the 2012-13 NBA season recovering from injury, has found a place to invest some money.

According to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com, “Deep dish pizza company Giordano’s will announce on Thursday that the Chicago Bulls point guard has become an equity partner in the restaurant franchise. “The pizza business is a cash flow machine; we just have to make it grow,” said Richard Levy, managing partner of Victory Park Capital Advisors, which bought the stalwart Chicago brand last year. So Giordano’s, which is looking to branch out from the Chicagoland area, will lean on Rose to give it a boost as it moves outside of its comfort base.”

Bulls fans just have to hope D-Rose doesn’t spend too much time sampling the product during his recovery.

Entering his fourth season, Gibson said he and Thibodeau expect more of him this season. Gibson averaged 7.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 20.4 minutes last season.

“Thibs already told me he wants my role to change, be more of a leader now,” Gibson said. “I worked out with him a lot during the summer. I worked out with him before the (Team) USA camp. He just wanted me to work out this whole year, build confidence and get better. He thinks I can do a lot more on and off the court. I’m ready to take that next step.”

Gibson thought the next step was being more of an all-around player.

“Just playing more solid, just coming in knocking down some 15-footers, back-to-the-basket play, a lot of stuff like that I’ve been working on during the offseason, a lot of stuff like that in the USA camp,” Gibson said.

— Reported by Scott Powers of ESPN Chicago

Bulls power forward Taj Gibson took a night off from the hardwood and headed for the baseball diamond, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the White Sox-Twins game Monday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

For the 6-foot-9 Gibson, he was relieved to have thrown the pitch for an apparent strike on the pitch, tweeting, “I got it over the plate!!! Lol.”

Gibson isn’t the first Bull to take the mount this summer. Back in August, Jimmy Butler threw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field before the Cubs took on the Astros.f

— Reported by Mark Strotman of CSN Chicago