The Chicago Bulls have signed Onrulap Bitim to a two-way contract, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Rumblings of this move were reported by Basket News at the end of June, but nothing was made official until now. Now, Bitim will join Adama Sanogo and Justin Lewis, filling up Chicago’s two-way deals.
But who is Bitim? The 24-year-old Turkish player spent this past season playing for Bursaspor in Turkey, who competed in the Turkish Basketball League and the Eurocup this past year. At 6-foot-6, Bitim plays the wing position and could provide the Bulls with a solid scoring punch, should he prove himself.
With Buraspor this past year, Bitim appeared in 50 total games across all competitions, including 48 starts, and played 30.9 minutes per contest. He averaged 17.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 45.0% from the field and 36.6% from behind the three-point line.
In the Turkish Basketball League, in which he played 32 games, Bitim finished ninth in scoring at 17.7 points per game and attempted the eighth-most threes per game at 6.8 (and shot 39.0% on those attempts).
Bitim also played well at the EuroCup, earning All-Eurocup Second Team honors alongside J’Covan Brown, Tyrique Jones, and former NBA players Sam Dekker and Bruno Caboclo.
At just 24 years old, Bitim has already established himself as a rising star overseas, and he’ll now test the waters in the NBA.
While he may not be able to crack the rotation for Chicago right away, the Bulls will be able to watch him develop in the G League in hopes of him eventually getting called up.
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