CHICAGO – With the team down a number of players with injury, including one of their best guards off the bench, the Bulls have looked to a former Illinois star for some help.
On Friday, the Bulls signed guard Malcolm Hill to a ten-day contract, which they’re allowed to do as part of the COVID-hardship allowance. At the moment, guard Alex Caruso, one of the team’s key players off the bench and best defenders, is in the NBA’s health and safety protocol while also dealing with an injury.
Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Caruso isn’t expected to return until at least Wednesday’s game against the Cavaliers. The Bulls face the Warriors on Friday, the Celtics Saturday, and the Grizzlies on Monday before that, doing so without the versatile guard.
The Belleville native has had a few stops during the 2021-2022 season, spending most of his time in the G League with the Birmingham Squadron, scoring 16.8 points while grabbing 6.4 rebounds a contest in 14 games.
Hill was signed to a ten-day contract in late December by the Atlanta Hawks and saw action in three games, averaging 15.3 minutes in those contests with 5.7 points in his time on the floor. Two of those were against the Bulls, with the first in Chicago on December 27th and the second in Atlanta on the 29th, where Hill had 13 points.
During his time at Illinois from 2013-2017, Hill was a two time All-Big Ten second-team selection, averaging 18 points his junior year and 17.1 in his senior season. The guard played internationally from 2017 through 2021 before entering the G League.