Bulls Trade Deadline Thoughts
There’s been a lot of chatter about what the Bulls will do before today’s trade deadline, primarily centered around the status of Jimmy Butler. Recent reports indicate the Bulls front office is leaning towards keeping Butler, a very reasonable position given that Butler is a legit superstar that you can build a successful franchise around. There’s only about a dozen of those guys in the league, so when you have one you have to consider yourself lucky and position yourself to maximize that player’s prime.
However, the Bulls have failed to do so. That’s why I think trading Butler now is the right move. He’s in his prime and under contract for 2 more years and would fetch a hefty haul in any deal. The Bulls, in my opinion, currently have no reasonable path to contending in the next 3–4 years with their current core. Having a franchise cornerstone is great, but not when his prime doesn’t align with the rest of the team’s makeup. Trading Butler would reset the Bulls timeline and give them a better chance at building a real contender. Wasting the rest of Butler’s most productive seasons on a middle-of-the-pack team just doesn’t make any sense.
The most likely trade partner for a Butler deal is the Boston Celtics, who luckily have a treasure trove of assets, including the Brooklyn Net’s first round pick in this upcoming draft. That pick will in all likelihood have a 46.5% chance of being either #1 or #2 overall. It’s hard to gauge whether or not Boston is willing to part with that pick, but if they are the Bulls have to make a deal with them. Getting a top 2 pick assures you a chance to draft either Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball, two highly touted prospects who scouts believe have superstar potential. At worst, the pick will be #3 or #4, and getting Josh Jackson or Malik Monk is not a terrible consolation prize.
I doubt that Dwyane Wade wants to be a part of a full-on rebuild, so unloading Butler will probably result in Wade opting out of his deal before next year, freeing up $23.8 million in cap space. A Bulls team next year with no Butler or Wade would likely result in another Top-5 draft pick and a chance to nab another franchise building block. If Wade does opt out, trading Butler without taking on any long-term money would give the Bulls tons of cap space to work with in free agency. A deal along the lines of Butler for the Brooklyn pick, Amir Johnson, and Jae Crowder makes a lot of sense. Johnson is a free agent after this season and Crowder is on a very cap-friendly deal.
Marc Stein reported the Bulls are also shopping Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott, and Niko Mirotic. I doubt there’s too much interest for any of those guys, but even 1 lottery-protected 1st round draft pick would be a good deal for the Bulls. If somehow the Bulls are able to make that type of deal combined with a Butler trade, they would be very well setup for the future. A great shot at landing a future star in addition to their own 1st round pick in this draft, a likely top-5 pick in next year’s draft, whatever they can get for Gibson/McDermott/Mirotic, and over $35 million in cap space this offseason. Those are the types of assets you need in order to build a contender in the next few years. I have no faith in the current Bulls front office to pull that off, but here’s to hoping that they can.
