Hawkins Brings Lottery-Pick Shooting Upside to Chicago

Jordan Hawkins Gets a Fresh Start With the Bulls on a Two-Way Deal

Jordan Hawkins entered the NBA as a lottery pick and, three years later, is entering his fourth season on a two-way contract.

Chicago signed the 24-year-old guard only days after Memphis waived him, giving Hawkins another opportunity to recover the shooting promise that once made him the No. 14 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. He already has 174 NBA appearances behind him, but his role in New Orleans steadily disappeared after an encouraging start to his career.

For the Bulls, that makes Hawkins a different type of two-way addition. He is not an unknown prospect waiting for his first NBA opportunity. Chicago is betting that a former lottery pick can rediscover the skill that got him drafted that high in the first place.

New Orleans Drafted Hawkins for His Shooting

Hawkins entered the league after helping UConn win the 2023 national championship. As a sophomore, he averaged 16.2 points and shot 38.8% from three while making 2.9 triples per game. New Orleans selected him 14th overall, with his shooting standing out as the clearest NBA-ready part of his game.

There were immediate signs that it could translate. Hawkins scored 31 points with seven three-pointers against Denver early in his rookie season, then produced a career-high 34 points and six threes against Dallas in January. He finished his rookie year averaging 7.8 points in 17.3 minutes while shooting 36.6% on 4.4 three-point attempts per game.

For a 21-year-old shooter, that was a reasonable foundation.

His Second Season Started Like a Breakout

Hawkins opened 2024-25 looking ready for a larger role.

He scored at least 23 points three times within his first six games, including 24 against Portland, 23 against Golden State and 23 against Indiana. New Orleans was already dealing with injuries throughout the roster, but Hawkins was taking advantage of the additional minutes.

Then his own availability became a problem.

The Pelicans diagnosed Hawkins with a low-back strain in early November, causing him to miss seven consecutive games. He returned for three games before a lumbar spine annular fissure sidelined him for another eight. New Orleans’ own season recap later pointed to those repeated interruptions as one reason Hawkins struggled to establish a rhythm.

Hawkins still appeared in 56 games and raised his scoring average to 10.8 points, but his three-point percentage fell to 33.1% on 5.9 attempts per game. His minutes also became less predictable as New Orleans cycled through a crowded perimeter group that included CJ McCollum, Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy III, Jose Alvarado, Brandon Boston Jr. and others.

The production increased, but the efficiency never followed the way New Orleans hoped.

By Year Three, Hawkins Had Fallen Out of the Rotation

The decline became much sharper in 2025-26.

Hawkins appeared in 51 games but averaged only 13.6 minutes and 5.1 points. He started once and spent stretches outside the rotation entirely. By late January, he had not played since Jan. 18 as New Orleans looked elsewhere for minutes.

The problem was no longer simply opportunity.

Hawkins entered the NBA with shooting as his clear separator, but he has made only 34.8% of his career three-pointers. When those shots are not falling, his other weaknesses become harder to hide. He has never developed into much of a playmaker, averaging just 1.0 assist for his career, while his lack of strength and defensive impact have made it difficult to create value elsewhere.

His shot selection also leaves room for improvement. Last season, more than 30% of his field-goal attempts came between 10 feet and the three-point line, areas where he shot below 36%. For a player whose best NBA skill is supposed to be perimeter shooting, cleaning up those possessions could be one of the simplest ways to improve his efficiency.

There were still flashes. Hawkins scored 25 points against Utah on April 7 and 20 against Boston three nights later. The scoring ability did not disappear. It simply stopped appearing consistently enough to guarantee him minutes.

Memphis Became a Very Short Stop

New Orleans moved on this September.

The Pelicans traded Hawkins and Micah Peavy to Memphis for AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson, with a future second-round pick and second-round pick swap also going to the Grizzlies. It gave Hawkins his first change of organization since being drafted.

He never played a game for Memphis.

The Grizzlies entered October with more standard contracts than they could carry into the regular season. On Oct. 3, the organization announced that it had mutually agreed to part ways with Hawkins. Memphis waived him despite owing his full roughly $7 million salary, and the Grizzlies still had additional roster decisions to make afterward.

Two days later, Chicago gave him another landing spot.

What Hawkins Can Bring to Chicago

The Bulls do not need Hawkins to become a completely different player. They need the version of his existing skill set that originally made him a lottery pick.

Hawkins can sprint through screens, relocate off the ball and get his jumper off quickly. Those traits can create spacing even when he is not handling the ball, and his best scoring games have shown how quickly he can heat up when the shot is falling.

Chicago also gives him a familiar decision-maker. Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham spent 15 years in New Orleans and was part of the Pelicans organization when Hawkins was drafted. This is not a blind reclamation bet. Graham already knows the player Chicago is trying to recover.

NBA minutes will not automatically be available. The Bulls have Josh Giddey, Norman Powell, Buddy Hield, Tre Jones and Isaac Okoro among their perimeter options. The two-way contract allows Hawkins to get consistent reps with Windy City while remaining available when Chicago needs shooting or backcourt depth.

For Hawkins, the goal is straightforward: make the three-point shot reliable enough that the rest of his game no longer has to carry as much weight.

Hawkins Adds Experience to Chicago’s Two-Way Room 

Hawkins joins Jaylin Sellers and Tobe Awaka in Chicago’s three two-way spots.

Sellers is a downhill scoring guard with athleticism and creation ability, while Awaka gives the Bulls a physical frontcourt player whose best traits are rebounding and interior toughness.

Hawkins brings something neither player can match: 174 games of NBA experience and the pedigree of a former lottery pick.

On the Two Way Talents team rankings, the Bulls are currently in a four-way tie for the 10th-best two-way contract room in the league.

Three years ago, Hawkins entered the league as one of the best shooters in his draft class. Chicago is not asking him to justify the 14th pick anymore. On a two-way contract, the standard is much simpler.

Shoot efficiently, earn minutes and prove there is still an NBA rotation player underneath the inconsistency.