Bulls Summer League Guard Spurns NBA for Texas Tech Return

Rookie Donovan Atwell shined for Chicago in the Las Vegas Summer League, proving why he deserves a chance to play in the NBA. However, Atwell appears to be putting his professional dreams off for one last shot at collegiate glory.

The 22-year-old is returning to Texas Tech for his final season of eligibility, following a Colorado ruling that the NCAA could not prevent athletes who were in the high school Class of 2022 from utilizing the new 'five-for-five' rule. The aptly named 'five-for-five' rule gives athletes five chronological years to utilize five seasons of NCAA eligibility and is meant to remove the surplus of sixth-year, seventh-year or eighth-year seniors from collegiate athletics.

Atwell spent three seasons at UNC Greensboro before transferring to Texas Tech last year. In his lone season with the Red Raiders, Atwell started 34 games while averaging 13.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. His most important quality for NBA teams, though, was that the 6-foot-5 wing shot a blistering 45.8% from deep on 8.4 three-point attempts per game.

That hot shooting clip showed up when the Bulls signed Atwell to their Summer League roster. In five games, Atwell made 48.5% of his threes by knocking down 16 of his 33 attempts. That included a game against the Cavaliers, in which he was 6-of-7 for 22 points.

Chicago currently has two players signed to two-way contracts: Providence guard Jaylin Sellers and Arizona forward Tobe Awaka. One two-way spot remains, and Atwell would've been a fit that makes sense.

The Bulls' roster is largely made up of athletic slashers and guards who are primarily passers. Shooting appears to be a major weakness, regardless of what lead executive Bryson Graham says. That would've made Atwell — who shot the lights out in college and during Summer League — a great candidate to take that last two-way contract.

Instead, Atwell returns to college to make the Red Raiders true title contenders. Meanwhile, the Bulls will need to pivot to put their third two-way slot to good use. Last year's trio — Mac McClung, Lachlan Olbrich and Yuki Kawamura — played well at the G League level, but did not meaningfully contribute on the Bulls' active roster.

Chicago is one of 11 NBA teams with at least one open two-way contract slot, joining the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks, and Philadelphia 76ers. Fifteen two-way contracts total remain available out of the NBA's 90 allotted slots.