When Andre Drummond left the Chicago Bulls this summer to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago was left with a rebounding void.
Yet, Drummond’s departure also means that the Bulls will be able to give more playing time to their younger, developing big men. Billy Donovan will surely give a ton of minutes to 24-year-old stretch big Jalen Smith, and 22-year-old Adama Sanogo of UConn fame is another player due for an uptick in opportunity.
Though undersized, Sanogo is a rebounding machine. He averaged 22 points and 14.7 rebounds in 29 G League games last year for the Windy City Bulls, and he even pulled off a ridiculous 20-rebound performance in one of the nine games he played for the Chicago Bulls during 2023-24, Sanogo’s rookie season.
Sanogo won a national championship with Dan Hurley’s UConn Huskies in 2023 and took home Final Four Most Outstanding Player along the way, yet he still went undrafted.
Chicago stands to benefit from Sanogo flying under the radar, and the fruits of their faith in the big man from Mali could come into bloom as early as this season.
Donovan indicated recently that Sanogo will get more playing time this year, per a report from New-Times’ Dave Borges.
"I'm hoping that he can stick,” Donovan said about Sanogo, per Borges. “We don't necessarily have a lot of size, so there may be more opportunities for him this year. But I love the kid. I envision he'd have more of an opportunity with us this year than last year."
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