Bulls waive Jaden Ivey for ‘conduct detrimental to the team’ following anti-LGBTQ remarks

Less than two months removed from the trade that brought him to the Bulls from Detroit, the Jaden Ivey era is already over in Chicago.

On Monday afternoon, the Bulls waived Ivey, the former fifth overall pick. The news was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times‘ Joe Cowley, who wrote that the team was working on an “exit strategy” due to some of his recent rhetoric.

Over the last few days, Ivey had delivered multi-hour-long sermons on social media, while replying to his followers’ well-wishes with hyper-religious commentary that included anti-LGBTQ remarks.

Shortly thereafter, the Bulls confirmed the report, stating that the team waived Ivey due to “conduct detrimental to the team.”

Ivey, who was recently shut down for the remainder of the season as a result of lingering knee pain, played only four games with the Bulls. Billy Donovan had expressed optimism that Ivey would be back following some success strengthening the muscles around his knee, but the team later shut him down after banging knees during practice. His final game with the team was a DNP-CD on February 20, when Ivey gave a press conference, in which he claimed, “the old (Jaden Ivey) is dead.”

It’s an unfortunate circumstance that swiftly closes a chapter the Bulls had hoped would work out when executive vice president Arturas Karnisovas overhauled the look of the roster ahead of the February trade deadline.

For a team stuck in a backwards process of seemingly keeping the team entrenched in the NBA’s middle class by any means necessary, the motive behind the Ivey trade was one of the few savvy moves Karnisovas made that followed the right process.

The deal sent out Kevin Huerter while the Bulls took back some extra salary. Ivey was a prime example of buying low on a once-talented young player who had fallen out of favor with his team. It was the right idea for a team desperately in need of young talent.

Instead, the result was chaotic.

In another deadline trade, the Bulls were forced to return one of the three second-round picks they acquired for Coby White as part of their deadline deal. They didn’t have the same luck when they determined that Ivey’s sapped athleticism was a result of knee pain associated with previous injury, or in the deal for Anfernee Simons, who’s dealt with a broken wrist most of the season.

The upshot is that the Bulls won’t have the burden of Ivey’s restricted free agency this offseason. Ivey’s cap hold was set at $30 million, so even if they had waited to determine a fair value deal, that cap hold would have blocked them from doing other business. Now, they’ve washed their hands and won’t need to factor him into future plans, creating more flexibility this offseason.

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