Bulls Must Focus on Blockbuster Trade Amid Alex Caruso Rumors to Become Title Threat

The Chicago Bulls are open to listening to a deal for point guard Alex Caruso, per Jamal Collier of ESPN, but "the Bulls would likely have to be blown away by a deal to trade perhaps their most important defensive player."

Caruso will not wow anyone with his offensive output (5.7 points per game) but he has 77 steals, 108 defensive rebounds and has already doubled his career-best in blocks with 31. He is a significant presence defensively for the Bulls, and prying him away from them at a time when they need a stable presence on that side of the ball will not be easy.

If need was not enough for the team to command a steep asking price of two first-rounders, per Jake Fisher of the Please Don't Aggregate This podcast, then vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas' stubborn commitment to continuity certainly would be.

"For me, No. 1 is continuity," he stressed on 670 The Score's Mully & Haugh Show last June. "The turnover was so, so big (over the past two seasons). As a team, we have only two players left from the team that we took over two years ago. So the continuity is huge for us."

At what point does that continuity become detrimental to what the organization is attempting to build?

Caruso's defensive play is the sort of thing that separates championship contenders from pretenders. While his offensive stat line may be scoff-worthy, he is a game-changer on the other side of the ball and can win a team a world title.

Despite that, the idea of any team giving up two first-rounders for Caruso without the offensive output to go along with the defense is laughable. Putting that asking price on Caruso is akin to the Bulls informing potential suitors that he is not for sale, raising the question: Why even bother?

Why not just inform other teams he is off the table?

Likely because Karnišovas is looking to save face. If he can float out there the idea that Caruso is available, lay out the asking price and no one bites, he can at least argue that he attempted a move.

Considering the free agency moves that failed to make much of an impact on the 26-27 Bulls, and the continued uncertainty surrounding Lonzo Ball as he prepares to be shut down for the season, the VP appears more than content to just shrug his shoulders and say "well, I tried" while chasing a continuity that has not existed for three seasons.

Instead, he should drop the asking price to a first-rounder, see if there are any players he can get in return to help with the team's depth and look toward next season.

The alternative, such as wasting the talents of DeMar DeRozan and Zach Levine while pursuing a nonexistent continuity and finishing similarly (or worse) to last year, would be worse and more disheartening to the fanbase than change.

Any change.

Something.