The Chicago Bulls ripped off the Band-Aid on Friday night … and it hurt.
After years of underwhelming results and dead-end trade rumors, Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley picked a direction. The organization sent former building block Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings as part of a three-team trade that also landed De’Aaron Fox in San Antonio.
There is no denying that the trade return – which was for a two-time All-Star in the thick of a career year – is underwhelming. However, this should have been the expectation. The Bulls put their own backs against the wall with how they have handled things over the last few years. Whether it be overpaying players or holding on to assets too long, every rival front office went into negotiations knowing the Bulls were running in place and lacked focus. This gave them almost all the leverage.
That is why the Bulls sit here today without a single additional first-round pick despite trading Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Alex Caruso. The best asset they received for any of those three players was their OWN first-round pick.
The Bulls have traded DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, & Alex Caruso for …– Josh Giddey– Kevin Huerter– Zach Collins– Tre Jones– Chris Duarte– Two Second-Round Picks– Rights to their OWN 2025 first-round pickNot a single additional first-rounder was acquired. Unbelievable.
— Elias Schuster (@Schuster_Elias) February 3, 2025Now, is having complete control of that 2025 pick a good thing? Sure. They no longer have to worry about it transferring to San Antonio in 2026 or 2027, where it would have only been Top 8 protected before turning into a 2028 second-round pick. At the same time, they were already positioned this season to keep that pick, and there is a decent chance this would have happened moving forward as they embark on a rebuild. This front office also shouldn’t necessarily be praised for cleaning up a mess they previously made. And, again, the fact they walk away with zero extra first-rounders for two multi-time All-Stars and a two-time All-Defensive team player is just bad business.
At least the mere reality of the trade is a positive … I think. The Bulls are likely regaining some respect in league circles by accepting defeat and embracing a more traditional rebuild. To be honest, while it may not feel this way, the Bulls are closer to achieving something meaningful than they have been in years. Well, that is if they continue to spam the reset button ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
(Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images) How fans feel about the Zach LaVine trade return will change over the next few days, weeks, and even months. It is all going to depend on what Karniosvas continues to do with his newfound flexibility. The Bulls can no longer half-you-know-what things. They need to go all-in on a rebuild, which means finding more trades over the next few days to add assets to the arsenal and improve their lottery odds over the second half of the season. Fortunately, several local beat reports quickly indicated that the Bulls are not done following last night’s big move. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network reiterated that at the beginning of the By the Horns podcast:“I will emphasize one thing that I know for sure, they do not want to believe that they are done. That’s not to say they will consummate another trade, but they are trying. Obviously, attention focuses on Nikola Vucevic next. Whether or not they can get something done with him or something else remains to be seen. But they have other balls in the air between now and the deadline,” Johnson said.
For what it’s worth, we know the Bulls will have to make at least a couple of moves to complete this Zach LaVine deal. Chicago has accepted back three players in the LaVine deal, which means they will have to create two roster spots unless they re-direct those players elsewhere. This is why the trade has yet to be made official. So how might they do this? Well, the goal would likely be to find trade suitors for players like Torrey Craig, Jevon Carter, or Talen Horton-Tucker. If they can’t do that, they will likely have to waive two players, with Craig and Tucker being the cheapest candidates. We’ll keep you posted on this. I wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if the Bulls tried to move any of the three players they received in this deal – Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins, and Tre Jones. The only problem is that Huerter and Collins are both owed $17+ million next season. Considering they have both struggled to make an impression this season, I can’t imagine they would draw much secondary interest. Perhaps the Bulls can bolster some of their value for a trade either in the summer or next season. Conversely, I could see teams showing interest in Jones. He is a very intriguing young point guard with a high basketball IQ and scrappy defensive instincts. I’d almost prefer the Bulls to keep him around, but he will also be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. If he doesn’t want to stick around, now would be the time to flip him. REPORTS: The Chicago Bulls Aren’t Done After Zach LaVine Trade I wish Zach LaVine nothing but the best. Many Bulls fans had a complicated relationship with the 29-year-old, but this wasn’t really his fault. Year after year they failed to construct a winning roster and often threw LaVine under the bus. The failures of the franchise never belonged on his shoulders. If anything, it’s remarkably impressive to see the player he built himself into following his trade and ACL injury. A lot of Bulls fans probably don’t even realize yet how much they are going to miss watching his special scoring chops. It’s going to take some time to find someone who can do what he can do on that end of the floor. Also, whether you like it or not, LaVine will finish his Bulls career as a staple in the record books. He serves as the franchise’s all-time leader in three-point make and leaves sixth in all-time points scored.LaVine as a Bull:— 2nd in 30-point games — 2nd in 40-point games — 2nd in 50-point games The only person to lead him in those categories? The ? pic.twitter.com/sXd7WOkFOR
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 3, 2025 Once again, as bad as it’s been, LaVine isn’t at fault!Bulls went 248-349 in the Zach LaVine era in Chicago. That's a .415 winning percentage in 8 seasons. They reached the playoffs once, losing in 1st round.(He didn't play all of those games, but that's their overall record in the regular season during his Bulls tenure.)
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) February 3, 2025 In non-LaVine news, Josh Giddey joined some impressive company on Sunday afternoon. The jumbo guard became only the fourth player ever to record 1,500 assists and 1,500 rebounds before turning 23 years old. He joins Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Magic Johnson as the only players to accomplish that. Shoutout to the Chicago Sports Network broadcast for that wild stat! As several folks wisely noted on social media, that feels a lot like the infamous Thaddeus Young stat …Thad Young walked so Josh Giddey could run pic.twitter.com/ONY9UiIUSh
— The Bloody Horns Podcast (@HornsBloody) February 2, 2025 Arguably the best defensive player in the NFL requested a trade this morning. Should the Chicago Bears make a move? As we wait to see if the Chicago Cubs will go after one of the best free agents left on the board, Michael takes a closer look at how he may perform next season.ELSEWHERE AT BN: Check Out BN Fantasy | Subscribe to The BN Newsletter
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The Chicago Bulls Finally Did It (And Other Bulls Bullets) )
Also on site :
- Diamondbacks injuries: Corbin Burnes surgery date set, Cristian Mena to miss ‘weeks’
- Billy Boston to become rugby league’s first knight
- Judge orders US refugee office to reconsider some children’s cases