The Chicago Bulls have waived a rookie shooting guard prior to the start of training camp.
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Per the league's player transaction log, Chicago has opted to cut undrafted rookie shooting guard Wooga Poplar. Poplar had been inked to a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 training camp deal, meaning this was always the likeliest outcome.
Poplar will now most likely sign with Chicago's G League squad, the Windy City Bulls, on an affiliate deal. Should he stick with Windy City for a period of at least 60 days, Poplar will be eligible for a bonus of up to $85,300.
Who is Wooga Poplar?
After spending his first three seasons with the Miami Hurricanes, Poplar transferred to Villanova for his 2024-25 senior year.
The 6-foot-5 wing averaged 15.3 points on .460/.387/.856 shooting splits, 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 swipes per while playing every game for the 21-15 Wildcats. He was named to the All-Big East Third Team for his efforts.
Now, Chicago has just two players signed to Exhibit 10 deals, ex-University of Missouri guard Caleb Grill and former University of Pittsburgh power forward/center Mouhamadou Gueye, heading into camp
In theory, Exhibit 10 signings could be promoted to two-way deals. At present, all three of Chicago's two-way slots are occupied — by combo forward Emanuel Miller, center Lachlan Olbrich (Chicago's second-round draft pick this year) and point guard Yuki Kawamura.
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Chicago enjoyed another incredibly under-the-radar summer — team president Arturas Karnisovas' favorite kind.
The Bulls selected 6-foot-10 former Ratiopharm Ulm Noah Essengue with the No. 12 pick at the end of the draft lottery, and Olbrich with No. 55. Chicago traded oft-hurt point guard Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers for 10th man (in the playoffs, at least) wing Isaac Okoro. The Bulls eventually inked restricted free agent point guard Josh Giddey to a four-year, $100 million deal, and re-signed free agent backup point guard Tre Jones to a three-season, $24 million agreement.
And that's the sum total of moves enacted by a 39-43 club that finished outside of the playoffs for the third straight season, a club that seems perfectly content to finish with a play-in tournament appearance that doesn't quite advance to the playoffs proper.
Chicago appears committed to sort of a soft rebuild, fielding a pseudo-competent roster that can't actually compete, but also doesn't ever notch a record bad enough to luck into the a top lottery pick yet.
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