Chicago Bulls: 3 takeaways from Thaddeus Young deal

Thaddeus Young joins a young Chicago Bulls core which filled a big need with its first move of free agency in 2019.

The craziness of NBA free agency is only in its beginning hours, but there have already been several enormous moves made. While the Chicago Bulls didn’t make one of those, they did agree with their first free agent in a fairly quick manner on Sunday night.

Former Indiana Pacers forward Thaddeus Young agreed with the Bulls on a 3-year, $41 million contract. The deal was announced just about 15 minutes after the free agency period opened on Sunday.

Young comes to the Bulls as their most experienced player at the moment, with his rookie year being all the way back in 2007. Still, he is only 31 years old due to starting his career at the age of 19.

My initial reaction to the deal was that the Bulls overpaid for a role player. I get it — Chicago had some cash to spend, and it wasn’t like they were going to spend it on anyone noteworthy. However, an average of nearly $14 million per season seems slightly pricy. Nonetheless, Bulls fans will have to let that slide.

Over his career, Young has posted an average of 13.4 points on 50 percent shooting and six boards per game. Just last year with Indiana, he started 81 of 82 games and came in with a line of 12.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting nearly 53 percent from the field.

Young is noted as a two-way player with a high motor. He’s always been above average on both ends of the court, as well as being a good man off of it.

After the dust settled a bit, I came to grips with a few takeaways from the Young signing. Here are three key topics worth noting when it comes to the deal.