Aaron Brooks returns to Bulls with one-year deal

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Reserve guard Aaron Brooks will return to the Bulls on a one-year deal, according to sources.

Brooks averaged 11.6 points and 3.2 assists in playing all 82 games for the Bulls last season, starting 21 games due to various injury absences. Brooks made the veteran’s minimum last season but he’ll earn more than that in 2015-16.

There was speculation the Bulls would go for a bigger guard who could possess the ability to play both guard spots as opposed to just one, but when the market dried up after a few targets signed above-average deals, it didn’t leave the luxury-tax paying Bulls with many options, and a return engagement with Brooks was an easy choice.

[MORE: Pacers, Bucks gain ground on Bulls in free agency]

Brooks scored 20 or more seven times last season, including a 31-point performance against the 76ers in Philadelphia where he sent the game into overtime with a leaning baseline triple.

The 6-foot guard struggled in the playoffs as Derrick Rose carried a heavier workload and opposing point guards began to overwhelm him with their size, leading to the thought of the Bulls breaking away from the pattern of smaller backup point guards (Brooks, D.J. Augustin, Nate Robinson).

With Kirk Hinrich exercising his option to return, the Bulls will keep essentially the same team intact barring any unforeseen personnel move—which can never be counted out.

The Bulls still have 26-year old guard E’Twaun Moore as a reserve, and they hope he’ll make a push for more minutes under Fred Hoiberg.

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