Chicago Bulls: Ethan Thompson, Daniel Oturu waived from team

The first real set of releases for the Chicago Bulls from the Training Camp roster came down early this week. Second-year head coach Billy Donovan announced on Oct. 11 (confirmed by a tweet from Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago on the afternoon of Oct. 11) that the Bulls waived center Daniel Oturu and rookie combo guard Ethan Thompson to start off the week.

As the most recent addition to the camp roster a few weeks ago, it looked like Oturu could be an interesting piece that could add depth deeper down the bench for the frontcourt unit. Oturu showed a lot of improvement down the stretch last season with the Los Angeles Clippers and in his stint during the offseason in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League.

But that apparently wasn’t enough to earn himself a spot on the 15-man roster, or a two-way contract slot, for the Bulls heading into the regular season.

In the preseason so far, Oturu registered just four total points, four rebounds, no assists, no steals, and one block. He shot 2-of-3 from the field and had no attempts from beyond the arc or from the free-throw line. Oturu played in just six minutes total for Donovan and the Bulls off the bench in their three total preseason games thus far.

Chicago Bulls waive Daniel Oturu and Ethan Thompson ahead of preseason finale

Meanwhile, Thompson was one of the undrafted free agent signings for the Bulls in the hours following the 2021 NBA Draft during the summer months. He got a pretty significant amount of playing time with the Bulls in the Las Vegas Summer League. But most of his production didn’t stick out in a big way in Summer League.

In roughly a dozen total minutes played in two preseason games for the Bulls, Thompson registered two total points, two rebounds, one assist, no steals, and no blocks. And Thompson shot 1-of-2 from the field and didn’t have any attempts from beyond the arc or from the free-throw line.

All in all, Thompson and Oturu didn’t get much of a shot to make an impact with the Bulls in the preseason. But with other younger players stepping up in camp and the preseason such as power forward Alize Johnson, shooting guard Javonte Green, rookie point guard Ayo Dosunmu, shooting guard/wing Matt Thomas, etc., there wasn’t much room left to make the final roster.

Following a close one-point victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on the night of Oct. 10, the Bulls hold a perfect record of 3-0 in the preseason thus far. Next up for Donovan and the Bulls is the preseason finale at home at the United Center on Oct. 15 against the Memphis Grizzlies.