Proposed Mega-Deal Trims Backcourt Fat, Adds Rising Two-Way Star

Getty Guard Coby White handles the ball during a preseason bout between the Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks.

For a team that held the top seed in the Eastern Conference for large swaths of last season — and one that has returned roughly the same roster — the Chicago Bulls are facing an incredible amount of questions this season. It’s not just Lonzo Ball’s injury that has some wondering whether the team can get back, either.

Patrick Williams has become a polarizing figure recently, as questions about his aggressiveness and overall trajectory abound. Sure, the former No. 4 pick won an unexpected camp battle for starting position, but he has still got a long way to go to prove himself as the potential franchise-changer many think he is.

Meanwhile, another former lottery pick — combo guard Coby White — didn’t get a contract extension from Chicago ahead of Monday’s deadline and he couldn’t secure a starting spot amid Ball’s knee problems. So, his future with the franchise is hardly assured.

With all of that in mind, Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney just floated a deal that would cash in on White’s potential while netting a baller who may just be able to bring what fans have been hoping to see from Williams.

Proposed Deal Brings OG Anunoby to the Windy City

Deveney probed executives from each conference for their thoughts on what kind of holes each team has and what they could potentially do to fill them. Regarding the Bulls, an East exec observed that the team may find itself overloaded in the backcourt once healthy.

Said the exec: “They need help on the wings, the interior, they need to be able to shoot it better. It’s tough because if Lonzo comes back and is good, they don’t want to make many changes. But they have a lot of guards and it might make sense to use that to fill in other holes.”

With that in mind, Deveney pitched the following move:

• Toronto Raptors receive G Alex Caruso, G Coby White and a protected first-round pick in 2027
• Chicago Bulls receive F OG Anunoby

In addition to being one of the better young (ish) players in the game — Anunoby is just hitting his prime years at 25 years old — the Toronto Raptors forward is a legit two-way player. Last season, he averaged a career-high 17.1 points per game while adding 5.5 boards, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals.

At 6-foot-7 and 230-plus pounds with a massive, 7-foot-2 wingspan, he could step into Williams’ current spot at the four or play on the wings offensively, while also wreaking havoc as a multi-positional defender on the other end.

Losing Caruso here is no small thing — he quickly became a fan favorite last season with his own two-way play. However, the exec opined that the Bulls “have other pieces who could fill in for him” and noted that the team “could get some real value for him,” too. Anunoby definitely qualifies there.

Dealing Picks, Though?

Deveney did point out that the Bulls don’t have the greatest track record recently where dealing draft assets is concerned. The last big trade they completed involving first-round picks saw them bring in Nikola Vucevic, who hasn’t quite lived up to his All-Star billing.

Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic got a strong starting big in Wendell Carter Jr., the pick that turned into young star Franz Wagner and another future first-rounder in 2023.

This deal is a whole other ball of wax, though.

“The Bulls might be kicking themselves for the move they made the last time they dealt away first-rounders, in the deal for Nikola Vucevic, but they’ve got a decent group that needs to focus on winning now. Losing Caruso would sting, but Anunoby is a big upgrade for the team,” Deveney wrote.