Former Ohio State forward E.J. Liddell will play for his hometown team this season, as the Chicago Bulls announced on Saturday that they have signed the Belleville, Ill., native to a two-way contract for the 2024-25 NBA season.
Liddell earns the contract after playing two games for the Bulls in the preseason, averaging 4.0 points and 4.0 rebounds across 15.1 minutes per game.
The Bulls initially added Liddell to their roster on a Exhibit 10 contract, which allowed them to convert the deal to a two-way contract or release them while still retaining their G-League rights.
With Liddell signed to the two-way contract, he will likely spend most of the 2024-25 season playing for the Bulls G-League team the Windy City Bulls. He will be limited to only 50 NBA games this season and won’t be eligible for the playoffs if the Bulls are to make it.
But it still provides Liddell, a former second-round pick by the New Orleans Pelicans, a great opportunity to continue his NBA career after a topsy-turvy offseason.
The former All-Big Ten Buckeye was traded twice during the offseason, first from the Pelicans to the Atlanta Hawks earlier this summer in a deal that sent NBA All-Star guard Dejontae Murray to New Orleans, and then from Atlanta to Phoenix in late July in exchange for David Roddy, all before being picked up by the Bulls earlier this fall.
The forward also struggled to make his mark with the Pelicans after being drafted in 2022, most notably tearing his ACL during a Summer League game that ended his rookie season before it began. He mostly appeared with the New Orleans G League affiliate Birmington Squadron, where he averaged 17.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.8 blocks and 0.5 steals per game in 26 appearances last season.
Liddell was a standout at Ohio State, averaging 14.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 blocks across his three seasons with the Buckeyes (2019-22), a statline that allowed him to earn back-to-back first-team All-Big Ten selections in 2020-22.
