Phoenix Suns free agent Torrey Craig agrees to two-year deal with Chicago Bulls
Torrey Craig is heading to Chicago.
The former Phoenix Suns forward and unrestricted free agent has agreed to a two-year deal with the Chicago Bulls, which includes a player option, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Additional terms of the contract were not disclosed.
The six-year veteran Craig averaged 7.4 points and added a career-best 5.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 39.5% from the 3 during the 2022-23 season. It was his first full year in the Valley, after he was traded back to the team from the Indiana Pacers at the trade deadline in February 2022. Craig's first stint with the team was when Phoenix acquired him from the Milwaukee Bucks in March 2021. Then he faced his former team in the 2021 finals, which Phoenix lost.
Craig, 32, was one of Phoenix's best 3-and-D players who was one of the most durable assets who played through tough injuries, and was one of the team's best rim attackers.
Last season, Craig appeared in a team-high 79 games, started in 60, including 37 from near the beginning of last season through late January to replace their former starting four-man Cameron Johnson who suffered a knee injury. Three days after Johnson returned, Craig has his regular season-high 20 points, shot a stellar 7-of-9 shooting including 4-of-6 from deep, and grabbed four rebounds, two blocks, and two steals in Phoenix's 112-110 home win over the Memphis Grizzlies on January 22. Craig also had over 10 rebounds in five games.
After Kevin Durant's arrival to Phoenix from the trade package that included Johnson, Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, and several future first-round picks, Craig lost his starting role to a then-emerging Josh Okogie for Durant's eight appearances for Phoenix before the playoffs. However, Craig thrived in returning to his sixth man role.
During the 2023 playoffs, Craig started all five games in Phoenix's Western conference first-round series win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Craig averaged his postseason career-highs 12.4 points, shot 64.7% overall with 55.6% from deep, and 3.6 rebounds. He shined in Phoenix's Game 1 home loss by scoring 22 points and connected on 9-of-12 shots. Then Craig's playing time tremendously dropped during the following series when Phoenix lost to the eventual world champion Denver Nuggets in the West semifinals. He was replaced again by Okogie as a starter, was taken out of rotation by Game 2, and averaged just 1.5 points and 9.2 minutes during that series.
Phoenix had nine players including Craig on its 15-man roster when free agency opened on Friday, and seven have agreed to terms for one- to two-year deals with the team. Phoenix has a tightened top-heavy payroll leaning toward its max-paid players Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Deandre Ayton, and Durant, deep into luxury tax for next year. The team's management can only afford veteran minimums for its bench. As Craig was an unrestricted free agent who wasn't among the team's initial returnees alongside Okogie and Damion Lee, and it became increasingly unlikely that Craig would be back with the team re-signed on the early bird exception.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Suns free agent Torrey Craig agrees to 2-year deal with Bulls
