Bulls Trade Predictions Ahead of Thursday's Deadline
The Chicago Bulls have been on trade watch throughout the 2022-23 NBA season.
The attention may have been all for naught.
The trade deadline arrives Thursday afternoon, and it just doesn't seem like major changes are about to breeze through the Windy City. The Bulls, winners in six of their last nine games, currently hold a ticket to the play-in tournament and can reasonably expect even greater success should injured point guard Lonzo Ball ever return from the meniscus tear he suffered in January 2022.
So, is a sleepy trade season on deck for the Bulls, or might they suddenly veer into landscape-shifting trades at the last minute? We'll tackle those topics and more with a round of Bulls-focused deadline predictions
Bulls Don't Break Up Big Three
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Apologies to all of the win-now shoppers out there, but Chicago won't scratch your itch for high-level, plug-and-play talent.
While one could argue the merits of the Bulls blowing things up—most notably, not having a championship ceiling now and being unlikely to raise one as Nikola Vučević and DeMar DeRozan get deeper into their 30s—that only matters if Chicago is actually interested in taking the plunge. The franchise is not.
"The feeling about the Bulls from one executive is that a complete blow-up isn't in the cards," Joe Cowley wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times. "Instead, they might try to add draft currency or salary-cap flexibility while still trying to stay competitive."
The Bulls have trade candidates, but Vučević, DeRozan and Zach LaVine probably aren't among them. That's likely true of Alex Caruso as well, unless someone wants to severely overpay for the energetic combo guard.
Coby White Finds a New Home
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Coby White's days in Chicago should be numbered.
The Bulls have never leaned less on the lottery pick (No. 7 in 2019). Both his 21.3 minutes per game and 17.3 usage percentage are easily the lowest of his career, per Basketball-Reference.com.
He is a support scorer on a team led by three players who count scoring as their greatest strength. His skills are superfluous on this roster, but they could be valued elsewhere.
With restricted free agency awaiting him this summer, the time for Chicago to cut the cord is now. Flipping him for frontcourt depth (and maybe modest draft considerations if the Bulls get lucky) makes all kinds of sense.
A Change at the Center Spot
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While Chicago may eventually need to make major changes to this roster, this deadline will likely be about improving on the margins.
Cutting ties with Andre Drummond should be a part of that plan.
He is typically productive when he plays, but he obviously isn't providing what coach Billy Donovan wants from his backup big. If Drummond was checking that box, he wouldn't be logging a career-low (by a mile) 12.8 minutes per night.
A lot of contenders could stand to upgrade their reserve frontcourt. Look for the Bulls to dangle Drummond in front of all of them.
