A number of NBA executives who have spoken to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype are “closely monitoring” the Bulls, Scotto told co-host Yossi Gozlan in the latest episode of the HoopsHype podcast. With Chicago off to an underwhelming 9-14 start and with no indication of when Lonzo Ball might be back on the court, teams are curious to see whether the club might become a seller.
There’s “a lot” of league-wide interest in DeMar DeRozan, according to Scotto, who says Nikola Vucevic is another name that figures to pop up in trade rumors over the next couple months. Scotto adds that some teams would have interest in Zach LaVine too, but the Bulls seem unlikely to move him midway through the first season of a five-year, maximum-salary contract.
Having signed with the Bulls over the summer, Goran Dragic and Andre Drummond will become trade-eligible on December 15, and Scotto suggests they could be worth keeping an eye on if Chicago does decide to sell, since both players are low-cost veterans who could slide into rotation roles on playoff teams.
Here are a few more highlights from the podcast:
- With JaVale McGee out of the rotation, it’s possible the Mavericks could peruse the trade market in search of another center. According to Scotto, if Dallas does look into that possibility, any trade target would have to be an upgrade defensively and a contrast to Christian Wood.
- Scotto has heard from some executives that the Suns ideally don’t want to add any extra salary to their books in a Jae Crowder trade. Crowder is on an expiring $10.2MM deal.
- Thunder big man Mike Muscala drew interest from about 10 teams as a free agent this past offseason, so if Oklahoma City is willing to make him available, he’d likely be a popular low-cost target, says Scotto. Due to the terms of his contract, Muscala has the ability to veto any trade that involves him.
- The Wizards hope to get Delon Wright within the next two weeks, per Scotto. A weekend report suggested the veteran guard could even be back in action this week.
idk if we would go into a full scale rebuild
The Bulls are headed for a full rebuild. The GM came from Denver where he drafted incredibly well to mold the current Nuggets.
DeRozan will bring back some draft value.
Vucevic = a 2nd round pick?
Drummond – Can be had for a bag of balls.
Lonzo – Hurt and not tradeable.
Zach – Bulls will not trade Zach yet. They will again try to build around him.
This might have been a different story had they not gotten rid of Lauri Markanen because they thought Patrick Williams was a franchise player (wrong, he is a bust)
Also traded Wendell Carter and a 1st round pick (pick became Franz Wagner) for Vucevic.
Markanen, Carter and Wagner added to DeRozan and LaVine is far better than current group.
I kinda think Chicago is the only one that thinks lavine is worth that contract. I know lavine thinks he’s worth it lol albatross
Based on the current NBA pay scale, Zach LaVine is absolutely worth the money.
When healthy, Zach LaVine can give you buckets on all levels. He has truly dedicated himself to being the best player he can be, and when healthy he is pretty damn good. I believe he still works out with his dad. Excellent Shooter! Can get to the rack. Has elevated his game every season he has played.
Poor kid, such a sad tale. At the tender age of 21 coming off a major injury and having played a total of 111 games Pat Williams is a bust because there can’t be any other outcome for Very Barry has deemed it so.
Patrick Williams is a bust!
This guy just lost his starting job on a 9-14 team for lack of production.
Bust!
Lauri Markkanen is averaging 22.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
Like you said Williams is a bust so it must be so.
It wasn’t that long ago that Markkanen himself was labeled a bust and here he is averaging 22.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game as one of the primary options on what appears to be a decent basketball team.
Williams hasn’t been horrible, he does perhaps need to be more assertive and crash the boards bit harder but a .450/.420/.931 slash line isn’t bad at all.
@tacocat1331 – You really satisfied with 9.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per game?
This is Year 3.
#4 overall pick.
Anybody else remember when the Bulls cut Spencer Dinwiddie because they didn’t think he was good enough to make their roster??
Brooklyn picked him up and he averaged 7.3 points, 3.1 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 22 minutes per game as a rookie.
You think he could help the current squad??
Yeah, I’m not buying it unless they get wowed with offers. I do think they’ll make moves but more with an eye toward reshuffling.
Not saying they necessarily should go that route, however. Just what I think will happen.
Way more players are eligible for max/super max contracts than are worth it. Beal and Lavine are two that aren’t. Both teams should’ve moved them before signing.
So true in hindsight. The Bulls could’ve got more young players/draft picks if they traded Lavine at his peak, but they wanted to run it back with their weak imitation of the Brown/Tatum combo with DeRozen/Lavine. Portland probably would’ve bit on a trade of Lavine for possibly Simons/Hart/Little + 6th pick that turned into Shaedon Sharpe. Smh
7th and no
Dallas should go after demar and vucevic. Vucevic could be cheap since he is expiring. If dallas parted was with picks, Dwight Powell, bullock (contract not guaranteed next season) and Tim hardaway jr bulls could either keep or have him traded to a 3rd team. With bulls getting rid of demar, vuc and coby white expiring they would have ~60m (or ~40 if they kept hardaway) in cap space to get another star in Chicago
I do think Bullock is guaranteed for like $5 mil, so he’s only partially guaranteed. Not sure if you calculated that, so that’s a difference of $5 mil, but I see your point of how it could be beneficial to both teams.
Vucevic & Derozan additions were the supposed deciding factor for Lavine to stay in Chicago & sign his contract. Otherwise he was playing somewhere else. This whole thing in Chicago happened fast. 50 games of great basketball though.
Bulls don’t need to blow it up Warriors,Nets and Lakers started off slow and have turned it around no need to overreact just yet.
Except Chicago has been terrible since Ball went down last year. It’s not some aberration.
Eh, I wouldn’t put the Bulls nearly on the same level as those teams when it comes to raw talent. The Warriors have a four time championship core so of course they will get the benefit of the doubt. The Lakers and Nets, regardless of all of the injuries and drama, are carrying multiple HOF’s on their rosters. Their ceiling is much higher.
This Bulls team is proving that they are not consistent enough to compete in the East. Maybe things improve enough if/when Lonzo returns, but that is a huge gamble. They probably won’t blow it all up, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bulls are sellers in a couple of months.
If they can get Good Zach who plays defense and has hops, they could easily trade off vets mid season and reload with youth to extend the window to match Lavine’s window. Williams might still pan out, he shows flashes and might get more chances to shoot with ball hungry vets gone.
Williams is a SF and not a PF, so you would have to move DD to allow Williams to play his natural position.
What do the Bulls have?
Ayo, Terry, Williams to build around?
Move LaVine, DD, Vooch, White and AC and what do you get for them?