Bulls sign Mike Dunleavy: reported 2-year deal for swingman

It's only been a couple hours since the rumor started of the Bulls targeting (now) former Buck Mike Dunleavy Jr., but apparently the Bulls (on what was a really poor first day of free agency for them) were actually moving quickly and proactively for once:

Mike Dunleavy has gone ahead and verbally committed to sign two-year, $6M deal with Bulls, according to sources with knowledge of the deal

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 2, 2013

(What's not clear yet is if both years are guaranteed, so we'll see how it affects 2014 payroll.)

I am a really big fan of this move,

1) That they’re using the TaxpayerMLE at all, which I didn’t think (based on everything we’ve seen) they were even going to even offer to anyone. Very happy to be wrong on that.

2) If you're using that salary slot, Dunleavy is of potentially really good value. Really good 3 pt. shooter (career-high 42.8% last season), great passer. Can handle the ball at least a little. Not-terrible defender. Always puts up good +/- numbers which speaks to his all-around contributions. Essentially, a better Bellinelli. Betternelli.

Assuming we shouldn't count on the draftees participating meaningfully in a title run this season, Dunleavy is a really versatile member of the bench.

And if it helps, our bro-site BrewHoop is kind of bummed he's leaving Milwaukee.

As this was the Bulls only significant free agent cap exception (they do have the Korver TPE for a few days after the moratorium), it would suggest only minimum guys will be vying for the frontcourt bench spots. But the Bulls had several holes this offseason and I'm very glad they showed they were willing to spend what they could to fill it.