Ranking Bulls' Top Trade Targets After 2023 NBA Play-In Loss
The 2022-23 NBA season was, objectively speaking, a bummer for the Chicago Bulls.
They couldn't replicate—let alone build on—their 2021-22 success, which included snapping a four-year playoff drought and flashing the potential of doing much more before losing Lonzo Ball to a torn meniscus and bone bruise. But this group couldn't get back to the postseason, bowing out of the play-in tournament with a 102-91 loss to the Miami Heat on Friday.
Ball still hasn't made it back from that injury and recently had a third surgery on his left knee that could cost him next season, too. Chicago can't expect much of anything out of the two-way point guard at this point, but it has yet to find a suitable replacement.
Should the Bulls keep looking for the right floor general who can salvage what's left of the prime years of DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vučević and Zach LaVine? Or is it time to close that chapter and start penning the next one?
We'll examine Chicago's offseason options while identifying and ranking the team's top trade targets.
3. Draft Picks
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If you think the Bulls have already peaked, then you can certainly argue that draft assets should have the franchise's full focus. However, since Chicago doesn't really seem ready to make that concession—the Bulls want to bring back Nikola Vučević, so clearly the desire is to keep competing with this core—it's hard to slot this any higher.
Still, what's the long game for Chicago? This team hasn't been the same without Lonzo Ball, and if he's already on the fence for next season, then it isn't difficult to assume whatever window this group had has already closed.
With Vučević ticketed for free agency this summer, and DeMar DeRozan slated to get there the next, this might be the perfect time to blow things up. Even if Chicago doesn't want to give up Zach LaVine—he is theoretically young enough to last through a speedy reset—it could at least move DeRozan for long-term assets.
The Bulls need more blue-chip prospects coming through the pipeline, particularly if they're losing faith in a Patrick Williams' breakout. Since their floor is too high to bottom out, the trade market offers the best avenue to one of those up-and-comers.
2. O.G. Anunoby, Toronto Raptors
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Think of the player the Bulls hope Patrick Williams might one day become: a big-wing stopper who can find scoring chances within the flow of the offense or sometimes take over the attack.
That description fits O.G. Anunoby like a pair of skinny jeans. And since the 25-year-old has a chance to enter free agency in 2024, it's possible the Raptors will field offers for him this summer.
If Toronto is open to overtures, Chicago should immediately pounce. This roster makes a lot more sense with a two-way wing tying things together like a Lebowskian rug.
What's better is that Anunoby is still young enough that he'd make sense for the Bulls even if they decide to move on without Vučević and DeRozan. Slot Anunoby alongside LaVine, Williams and a hopefully healthy Ball at some point, and the Bulls would be in business.
1. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
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If the Bulls want any chance to contend next season, they have to up their star power and fix their point guard position.
A megadeal for Damian Lillard would solve both problems.
While there are no indications he'll make himself available—it's tough to picture a Lillard trade without his insistence on it—maybe a second consecutive wasted season could nudge the 32-year-old to the exits. He was all-caps BRILLIANT this past season (32.2 points and 7.3 assists), and it never mattered because the Blazers failed to provide sufficient support.
The Bulls would have loads of defensive questions with a nucleus featuring Lillard, LaVine, DeRozan and Vučević, but they could have the offensive firepower to overcome them. If any single trade gets Chicago into the championship race next season, it'd be putting every trade chip on the table and nabbing Lillard.
