Isaac Okoro, who will be acquired from Cleveland in a trade for Lonzo Ball, is the type of player Bulls general manager Marc Eversley said he’s looking to build the team around during a meeting with reporters earlier this week, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Okoro had mixed results during his five seasons with the Cavaliers, but he’s a strong wing defender who can play multiple positions.
Discussing how the Pacers were able to reach the NBA Finals, Eversley said, “What I take away from Indiana is their style of play. They continue to come at you over and over. They play fast in spite of the score or what quarter it is. That’s kind of how we played this year. They’ve got a bunch of players that can play on both sides of the floor, and that’s exactly what we want to build here in Chicago, players who are versatile. You can’t [defensively] hunt any of their players. Everybody can defend, run and make a shot.”
The Bulls have been criticized for not getting a draft pick in the deal, but Cowley points out that Okoro’s contract isn’t burdensome enough to ask for a sweetener. He’ll make $11MM and $11.8MM over the next two seasons before becoming a free agent in 2027.
Cowley notes that adding Okoro will allow the Bulls to continue trying to unload Patrick Williams, and it will take some pressure off 18-year-old Noa Essengue, the team’s first-round pick, to contribute right away.
There’s more from Chicago:
- The Bulls remain active in trade talks after today’s deal, tweets K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network, who hears that Ayo Dosunmu is being discussed more than Coby White.
- In a Chicago Sports Network interview (Twitter video link), Eversley discusses the decision to draft Essengue at No. 12, saying he was the “best player available, and he fits the style of play that we want to play.”
- Injuries changed the course of Ball’s four years with the Bulls, states Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. Ball and the team got off to a strong start after he was acquired in a 2021 trade with New Orleans, but everything changed when he hurt his knee in January of 2022. It appeared to be a routine injury at the time, but Ball missed more than two full seasons before finally making it back in October. He talked about the long recovery process and the thrill of getting back on the court at this year’s exit interview, Poe adds. “I got to a point where I was starting, which I didn’t think was going to happen,” Ball said. “I got to a point where I was playing 30 minutes multiple games in a row, which I didn’t think was going to happen this year. So I went above certain goals that I set for myself, and that’s very positive for me moving forward.”
Okoro being the kind of guy they want to “build around” might just be the most Bulls things possible
I was just going to say the same thing… I feel bad for Chicago fans if that’s the goal
Dont worry, we fine, just need some beers. Akme are son of the b***
Okoro is useless on offense so the whole quote is just nothingness, like the organization with someone satan sees as evil owning the team
What so people think Ball was worth even one FRP? Okoro for oft-injured Ball was a decent deal for the Bulls. If Bulls got any picks they would be Seconds. No one cares about R2 picks.
why do I keep reading this? R2 picks are valuable; ask the Nuggets. And I’m not talking about just unicorns either. In a deep draft like this year, early 2nd are good for finding rotation players. Beyond that may be a lottery ticket but like they say: You can’t win if you don’t play. Hitting on one occasionally is the difference between mediocrity and deep playoff runs.
The Bulls continually refuse to play even when tickets are given to them.
For every valuable 2nd round pick, I can show you 20 that aren’t.
And how many valuable 2nd round picks and contributing to championship contenders? A 2nd round pick averaging 10 points a game on a 50 loss team doesn’t mean anything.
Jokic and Draymond and Middleton would like to have words with you.
Honestly, how many lottery picks and late first round picks are not contributing to championship contenders? How many first overall picks are bust?
The idea is shooting your shot and hoping something sticks, especially in the second round. But you can’t do that if you don’t have those picks.
There’s 30 2nd pound picks every draft and you named 3 people lol.
Jaylin Williams and Aaron Wiggins.
Every team cares about round 2 picks, which is why they get traded so often. Every team wants to position themselves in both the draft and trades, and those round 2 picks help make it happen.
Not to mention the several million dollars of cash money the Lakers traded just to move up $2.5m to the Bulls and probably as much or more to Minnesota. You don’t send out that type of cash if you “don’t care.”
If you’re trying to figure out what the Bulls are doing at any specific time don’t bother unless you’re an idiot. Because only an idiot can even attempt to try and figure out he brain waves of the Bulls brain trust who are idiots. Your head will explode like one of Gallagher’s watermelons. Only a bunch of idiots would say they’re trying to build a winning team out of draft busts and say he’s the kind of player we’re looking for. Quite frankly it’s insulting to intelligent Bulls fans everywhere.
This idiot was trying to get in line with Nico Harrison when he was saying that defense wins championships being Okoro a defensive minded player. What he forgot is that he is no Anthony Davis and is not even a 3 and D or 2 way player. You certainly cannot build around a career single digit scorer. That would be like Cronin saying that they want to build around Thybulle
I think i need voodoo dolls seller’s number.
Okoro shot well he just did get passed the ball. Giddey will make him look way better.
This is what makes the NBA suck. Its supposed to run by the best minds in basketball right? We are all told over and over how brilliant NBA gm’s are from every espn show to every podcast. Then it gets proven constantly that NBA gm’s are much dumber than your average fantasy league gm. The league is basically run by agents.
When it comes to front offices in sports. It’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know. It’s one big circle of friends who used to play together or coach together. Leading to the same people getting hired over and over again. No matter how bad of a job they did.
At first glance, I didn’t like the trade from the Bull’s standpoint. Bulls already have forwards Buzelis, Williams, Phillips, Terry and the 1st round pick Essengue. But now I do understand the trade. Okoro can be the Bull’s version of Dort. A strong athletic player to guard Doncic, Edwards, Jalen Brown, etc. Not a cheap contract but not overly expensive and not a long term contract.
This is exactly the kind of player the Bulls need…
They could use another one…
IF they are gonna be the Pacers 2.0 then players like Okoro are definitely needed…
I give the Bulls a B+ on this one…if they would’ve got a 2nd rd pick or two it would’ve been a A….