The 2018 NBA Global Camp was held in Italy earlier this week, marking the first time the league has organized a draft combine outside of the United States. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony was in attendance for the event and said 81 players from 38 countries attended the event over its four days, which was similar to the NBA’s regular combine in that it featured testing, interviews, scrimmages, etc.

One would think this camp would be a good thing to attend for a rebuilding team like the Bulls. You never know what kind of hidden gem you could unearth.

But apparently the Bulls felt like building more equity with ownership instead of going:

Of the 30 NBA teams, 29 sent representatives to scout the event, with only the Chicago Bulls refusing to participate because of their unwillingness to pay the $10,000 fee the league charged teams to subsidize expenses, according to camp officials.

Just like the outright sale of last year’s 2nd round pick, this isn’t that big a deal in the grand scheme of their rebuild. But it’s simply not giving yourself the best chance to succeed. For the second time in a year, the Bulls are passing up on something because of admitted cheapness/laziness. $10,000 is a drop in the bucket for any NBA team, but it’s especially nothing for one of the most valuable franchises in the league that has dramatically skimped on payroll as part of this path.

For them to be the only NBA team to not attend is a bad look.

Speaking of that second-round pick last year, Jordan Bell (one of the players available and the prospect selected at that spot) just had 10 and 6 in Game 3 of the Finals and is on the verge of being an NBA champion. Guy has to be thrilled with how things turned out. Cash considerations is still looking for his first bucket. (Yes, I will make jokes about this forever.)

UPDATE (from yfbb):

John Paxson addressed this report to KC Johnson of the Tribune, saying it’s not cheapness merely laziness and lack of resources:

“We made a decision not to attend the Treviso camp given our trust in our director of international scouting, Ivica Dukan, and his knowledge of the event and the prospects in attendance,” executive vice president John Paxson said Thursday. “We are also currently holding workouts for our two first-round draft picks and want all of our scouts present as we go about this very important process.”

Glad that’s settled.