As we expected, former Gonzaga guard Matt Bouldin was not selected in the two-round NBA Draft last night. He was, however, scooped up very quickly by the Chicago Bulls who offered him a free agent contract and a spot on their summer league team.
As we outlined yesterday, the options to play professional basketball do not end with the NBA. Although Bouldin wasn't drafted, he still has a shot to make an NBA roster this season with the Bulls or another team that is impressed by his play. If that doesn't work out, European basketball is always a very attractive, and sometimes lucrative option.
In terms of the Chicago Bulls, I don't think you could find a better spot for Matt to land as a basketball fan. He's going to an organization with a winning history and will be fighting to make a team that is in flux and will have room for young role players that can be groomed. Chicago is expecting to be a huge player in the insane free agency sweepstakes this summer and there ability to spend greatly increased last night as they unloaded Kirk Hinrich's contract in a trade.
Matt doesn't have a whole lot of time to enjoy the summer as he'll likely report to Chicago within a week and will head to Vegas to start summer league which begins mid-way through July.
The summer league should be a great place for Matt to improve and hopefully prove to people that he can be a servicable defender against elite athletes and can knock down the open jumper consistently. We'll be tracking Matt's progress his summer and wish him nothing but the best as he looks to make an NBA roster!