One of the toughest parts about watching the Bulls thus far has been seeing Cam Payne handle the majority of the point guard minutes with Kris Dunn out. Ryan Arcidiacano hasn’t inspired much confidence off the bench either.
With guard play across the league being so impressive right now, it makes the Bulls point guard situation that much more difficult to stomach. One of the alternative options the team has is Chicago native and former Kentucky standout Tyler Ulis.
Many fans have been wondering, why not give the Marian Catholic grad a shot? How could he be worse than what they’ve been throwing out on the court on a regular basis?
There are multiple answers to those questions. For one, he’s a 5’9 (if that) guard that weighs just 150(!) pounds who was let go by the lowly Phoenix Suns, a team that has Isaiah Canaan as their starting point guard right now. So as bad as Payne and Arcidiacano look, of course Ulis could be worse.
But more importantly, Ulis is on a two-way contract. That means he’s only allowed to be with the NBA team for 45 days, not 45 games, throughout the course of the season.
“NBA teams may have up to two players under NBA Two–Way Contracts who will spend the bulk of the season in theNBA G League and no more than 45 days with their NBAteam”
Those 45 days include practices and travel days, so the Bulls carrying Ulis throughout this stretch would be a waste. Ulis will get his opportunities just like Arcidiacano and Antonio Blakeney did last year, but he’s not going to be the answer to the Bulls’ point guard problems.
