As De’Aaron Fox trade illustrates, the Bulls still don’t know what they are doing

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The Chicago Bulls have broadly received the worst feedback from analysts among the three teams that participated in the De’Aaron Fox-Zach LaVine trade.

To recap the Bulls’ return: They received Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins, Tre Jones and their own 2025 pick back, which they kind of owned anyway since it was top-10 protected.

For that, they sent out Zach LaVine and a 2025 second-round selection.

By pulling the trigger on that deal, it becomes downright crucial the Bulls follow with more deals before Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline for multiple reasons:

This appears to be a rebuild attempt, with heavy emphasis on the word “appears” and that lone deal is simply not good enough. Chicago has no path toward a chance at real competitiveness with its current roster, and even its tanking process — if that’s what this is — looks dreadfully uninspiring.

Coby White is in a peculiar contractual situation, which is just screaming for the Bulls to pull the trigger on a deal now to optimize a trade return. (The TL;DR version: White’s play is worth more than what he can earn in an extension from the Bulls, thus he will with absolute certainty become an unrestricted free agent in 2026. If the Bulls trade him now, the receiving team gets him for two possible playoff years, instead of just one, meaning more value.)

The expiring contract of Lonzo Ball is an obvious way to take on long-term money for the price of draft equity. Ball’s $21.4 million are coming off the books this summer, and with apron teams surely looking to save money in the future, Chicago could ask those teams for draft compensation by taking on matching contracts that run for much longer.

Nikola Vučević is playing some of his most efficient basketball. It’s not sustainable, but when has that ever stopped NBA teams from trading for a player who’s clearly performing above his usual level? The Bulls absolutely need to pivot off the center now, especially as a team like the Golden State Warriors appears outright desperate to make a roster upgrade.

The Bulls need to optimize value for Coby White and Nikola Vučević before Thursday’s trade deadline. (Photo by Melissa…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/as-deaaron-fox-trade-illustrates-the-bulls-still-dont-know-what-they-are-doing-170734740.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-02-04 17:07:00

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