Mike Dunleavy was a player of interest for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers as NBA free agency approached, but the veteran shooter will remain with the Chicago Bulls as he’s reportedly agreed to a three-year contract extension.
The deal, which was first reported by Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski and later confirmed by several other reports, will pay him just under $5 million per season.
The contract will keep Dunleavy with the team that he’s spent the last two seasons with. In the 2014-15 campaign, Dunleavy played a key role as head coach Tom Thibodeau frequently played him over rookie small forward Doug McDermott, and the veteran repaid the coach nicely with 9.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game for the Bulls.
While Dunleavy is staying, it wasn’t through a lack of trying from other teams. With the squad falling just short of an NBA title, LeBron James and the Cavaliers were targeting Dunleavy in free agency to fill an outside shooter’s role, similar to the one that Ray Allen did for James when he was with the Miami Heat.
With Dunleavy now under contract, the Bulls can shift their full attention to the fate of Jimmy Butler, who is reportedly mulling a five-year deal worth $90 million to stay with the Bulls.
