Leonard Miller looks the part of an NBA player. While he is a bit lanky, he is still 6-foot-10 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan and quite a bit of athleticism. Selected with the 33rd pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, it was expected that the Minnesota Timberwolves could develop him into a core rotational guy.
That never happened. Now in his third season, the 22-year-old Miller never found himself in the trust circle of Chris Finch. Traded to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, Miller heads to a team short of frontcourt players, which should allow him the opportunity for minutes, something that never occurred with the Wolves.
Miller joining a Bulls team where he should have the opportunity to play more
In his NBA career, Miller has only seen action in 49 games for a total of 179 minutes. Altogether, he has scored 93 points, grabbed 56 rebounds, and dished out 13 assists. Much of his time in the previous two years had been spent in the G League with the Iowa Wolves.
Now, Miller joins a Chicago team that has a depth chart filled with more players manning the backcourt. Miller, Rob Dillingham, and four second-round picks were sent to the Bulls in exchange for Ayo Dosunmu and Julian Phillips on the day of the trade deadline. The Bulls also traded their starting center, Nikola Vucevic, to the Boston Celtics. The hope, I’m sure, is for Miller to be available for the Bulls in their next game on Saturday against the Denver Nuggets, and he may have the opportunity to play right away.
Minnesota traded Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller and four second-round picks to Chicago for Dosunmu and Julian Phillips, sources said. https://t.co/bVhLA9Sb3f
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2026
Chicago also played on Thursday and gave substantial time to a previously little-used frontcourt player. That would be Guerschon Yabusele, who was acquired from the New York Knicks on Wednesday. In his Bulls debut, Yabusele saw 33 minutes of action and finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. The 30-year-old only averaged 8.9 minutes per contest while with the Knicks and found himself being a DNP - CD in many of their games.
It’s important for Miller to be able to showcase his talents on an NBA floor. It’s no guarantee that the Bulls pick up his $2.4 million club option for next season if he shows little more than he did in Minnesota. It may be difficult for Miller to find a standard contract next offseason if he enters free agency and does little with Chicago.