The post-trade deadline Bulls last season were considerably size-deficient, having traded Nikola Vucevic to the Celtics and lost Zach Collins and Noa Essengue to year-ending injuries. One of the few players who held Chicago's frontcourt together during that time is now taking his talents to South Beach.
Unrestricted free agent center Nick Richards has agreed to a one-year contract with the Miami Heat, according to ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania. The move comes amid a big offseason for the Heat, in which they acquired Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and signed former Warriors and Mavericks shooter Klay Thompson.
Chicago acquired Richards last February in a three-team trade with the Bucks and the Suns. The Bulls sent then-22-year-old guard Ousmane Dieng — whom it had received in the Coby White trade a day prior — to Milwaukee and picked up Richards from Phoenix. Meanwhile, the Bucks also acquired forward Nigel Hayes-Davis and the Suns received guards Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey.
Richards played 20 games for the Bulls and made four starts. In 22.4 minutes per game, the 6-foot-11 center averaged 9.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game. He shot 52.3% from the floor and went 5-of-18 (27.8%) from beyond the arc.
However, the team struggled mightily as it entered a rebuild. Chicago compiled a measly 7-24 record following the trade deadline, including a 5-15 mark in games that Richards played. Richards was playing in the final season of a three-year, $15 million contract extension that he signed with the Hornets in 2023 and entered unrestricted free agency this summer.
Dieng, the player who never suited up for the Bulls before being traded for Richards, ended up finishing the season with the best play of his career. The 6-foot-9 Frenchman started 20 of his 30 games in Milwaukee and averaged 11.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
That included a 19-point, 11-rebound, six-assist and four-block performance in a win over the team that drafted him — the Oklahoma City Thunder — on Feb. 12. Nearly two months later, Dieng posted 36 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in a loss to the Rockets.
The Chicago Bulls have 14 rostered players ahead of the 2026-27 season, with room for one more standard contract and one more two-way player. New head coach Tiago Splitter will need to manage a logjam at guard and on the wing, but his center depth appears shallow. As of the time of Richards' signing with Miami, the only rostered big men for the Bulls are Nic Claxton, Jalen Smith and Collins.
