NBA Trade Deadline: Who Will the Chicago Bulls Acquire?
The NBA trade deadline is little more than a day away, and talks are starting to heat up. The Bulls have already made their first move, trading little-used SF James Johnson to the Raptors for the Heat's first-round draft pick.
The Bulls now have many quality picks to trade, including their own and the Charlotte pick. Here are the three shooting guards the Bulls are targeting today, according to ESPN.
Anthony Parker
1 of 3
The Cavs' shooting guard has plenty of outstanding qualities in that he is big at 6'6, is a quality three-point shooter at 40 percent, and has an expiring contract valued at $2.8 million.
Even better, the Bulls could trade picks to get him, and absorb his contract without going over the cap. This way, the team can maintain their bench.
But on the negative side, he is rather old at 35, and would be a one-year "rental" player, similar to what the team did with Flip Murray.
This is certainly not the trade the Bulls are hoping for, because Anthony Parker does not make the team significantly better. Of the three players here he is the least likely to come to Chicago, and certainly the Bulls last choice.
But if the team cannot get the other two players listed here, they will pull the trigger on Anthony Parker, which is why I put the odds of this trade at 10 percent.
OJ Mayo
2 of 3
Mayo is a player who could raise the Bulls to the level of Boston and Miami.
ESPN is reporting the Bulls made the James Johnson trade to have an extra draft pick as ammunition for this trade. The reasons why the Bulls need to make this trade are listed here:
The Bulls will work on this trade down to the wire and make every attempt to land OJ. He is by far the best shooting guard on this list, and at age 23 would be with the team for many years, unlike Anthony Parker. The Bulls know he has the most upside and that it would be the perfect solution for the team.
The only stumbling block is that the Grizzlies are rumored to want a lot for their young SG, and the Bulls would probably have to trade a player back along with draft picks.
Expect the player traded to be Ronnie Brewer. It must be a SG because with the acquisition of Mayo, the Bulls would have a crowded backcourt with four players.
Keith Bogans would not interest the Grizzlies, and the Bulls would refuse to trade their shooter in Kyle Korver, leaving Brewer as the only option.
The Bulls want him, and the Grizzlies don't want to give him up. But with the assets the team now has, the odds of a trade are probably 40 percent.
Courtney Lee
3 of 3
Courtney Lee has been connected to the Bulls for a long time and will continue to be so. The team must be very high on him, since reports have linked the two together for months.
The Bulls also are supposed to have scouted him numerous times. Lee is a young player with plenty of upside, and will produce much more when a defense is focused on Derrick Rose.
The Rockets wanted Omer Asik in exchange for Lee, and the Bulls flat-out refused to do so. But now with an extra first-round draft pick, the team could offer one or more to entice the Rockets into a trade.
As the Bulls now have extra cap room from the James Johnson trade, they could absorb Lee's contract without sending a player back.
The odds of this trade is probably a coin flip at 50 percent, with the only stumbling block being how much the Rockets want for him.
