Bulls end five-game Vegas trip on a high note

Bulls’ players celebrate their win over Dallas Mavericks in Vegas on Friday. The five-game stint in Las Vegas came to an end on Friday with a 94-87 win over the Mavericks in the consolation bracket of the NBA’s summer league.

Agencies/Las Vegas

The team’s two holdovers, point guard Marquis Teague and power forward Malcolm Thomas sat out the finale, paving the way for draft picks Tony Snell and Erik Murphy to have strong performances.

Snell had his best game of the trip, scoring 20 points and making five of his eight three-point attempts, as well as grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out three assists. Murphy continued his solid play with an 18-point, 13-rebound outing.

Free-agent guard Andrew Goudelock bounced back from two consecutive rough outings with a 22-point night on 8-for-15 shooting, while big man Deon Thompson took advantage of Thomas’ absence with a 14-point, nine-rebound game and fellow post player Matthew Bryan-Amaning had a strong second half, featuring a handful of highlight-reel plays.

The Bulls finished 4-1 in summer-league play, but after going undefeated in their first three contests, a loss to the rival Miami Heat relegated them to the consolation round in the first year that the event had a tournament format.

Meanwhile, Bulls power forward Taj Gibson received an invitation to participate in USA Basketball’s mini-camp for its Select Team for the second straight year.

Unfortunately, he won’t be able to play after suffering a sprained ankle during workouts at the Berto Center earlier this week, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to CSNChicago.com.

Gibson’s injury was first reported by NBA.com after USA Basketball executive Jerry Colangelo announced he would be unable to participate Friday. The defensive-oriented reserve could still attend the camp as an observer, the same individual said, and per Colangelo, his absence won’t preclude him from being considered for the USA Basketball squad that will participate in the 2014 FUBA World Championships.

Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau, already in Las Vegas to watch the summer-league edition of his team, will remain on hand to assist with the mini-camp, which begins Tuesday.

Bulls assistant coaches Adrian Griffin and Ed Pinckney have been the object of affection for various NBA teams this offseason, as almost half of the league have hired new head coaches.

According to reports, both coaches are under consideration for the last remaining vacancy, the Philadelphia 76ers’ opening to replace Doug Collins.

But a person with knowledge of the situation told CSNChicago.com that it’s unlikely that either candidate is hired, as a reported front-runner for the position, Spurs assistant Brett Brown, is “99 percent” likely to be hired by the Sixers.

Elsewhere, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced Friday that they signed center Andrew Bynum to a contract.

The Cavaliers did not release the terms of the deal, but multiple media reports have indicated that the deal is for two years and worth $24mn.

Bynum, 25, did not play a single game for the Philadelphia 76ers last season because of problems with his knees that required surgery.

Bynum’s best season was 2011-12 with the Los Angeles Lakers, when he averaged 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds.

The Houston Rockets re-signed guard Aaron Brooks to a one-year deal and signed unrestricted free agent guard Reggie Williams to a multi-year contract, the team announced.

Brooks played in just seven games for Houston last season, averaging 1.4 points and 0.9 assists.

Williams averaged 3.7 points for Charlotte last season.