Nets Starter Name-Dropped as ‘Realistic’ Trade Target for Bulls

Getty DeMar DeRozan #11 of the Chicago Bulls.

If the Brooklyn Nets want to cash in on their plethora of two-way wing players, they could find a willing trade partner in the Chicago Bulls.

“The Bulls need a two-way wing in the worst kind of way, wrote Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report on May 4. “They could hope that Patrick Williams suddenly morphs into their missing piece, or they could swing a deal for Dorian Finney-Smith and be done with it. … If the Brooklyn Nets make him available, he could spawn a furious bidding war. Still, he’d be such a clean fit in Chicago that the Bulls would be more incentivized than anyone to cough up the necessary trade chips.”

While Brooklyn had their championship hopes dashed after trading away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, they can hang their hats on the fact that they held onto a top-six seed after many projected a catastrophic slide out of the postseason altogether.

That has left them with a fair amount of questions to answer this offseason.

Conversely, the Bulls entered the season defying national calls to shake up the roster only to fall well short of their stated goal of advancing to the second round of the postseason, failing to make the playoffs at all. That left Bulls vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas to say that he will look at various avenues to improve the team.

Dorian Finney-Smith Would Fit Well in Chicago

Finey-Smith, 29, has started all 206 of his appearances since 2021 and would figure to be an ideal fit for Chicago. More than 67% of his field goal attempts came from beyond the arc, per NBA.com while he put up nearly 300 more catch-and-shoot threes than those of the pull-up variety.

As Buckley notes, he’s also a good defender boasting a solid frame and length at 6-foot-7 with a nearly 7-foot wingspan.

He has also been very realistic about the possibility he may not be in Brooklyn next season.

Finney-Smith shot just 33.6% from deep this season but shot 38.9% from 2020 through the 22022 season. That is a critical note for a Bulls team that, even when they took threes, was only average at making them, ranking 16th in the NBA.

He is heading into the second year of a four-year, $55.5 million contract and has a $15.3 million player in the final season.

How the Bulls Can Land Dorian Finney-Smith

Karnisovas said he can get creative in trying to improve the team this summer. The trick for the Bulls in any deals they look to make. They only have coveted defender Alex Caruso and virtually untouchable Williams on contracts that would work 1-for-1.

Could there be something there with restricted free agent Coby White on a sign-and-trade?

Would the Bulls – who are in need of a point guard with starter Lonzo Ball set to miss most if not all of his second season in a row – even be amenable to giving up one of their few promising young players for a win-now solution in Finney-Smith, the kind of decision that has come back to bite them in the recent past.

That certainly complicates matters for the Nets who could use either Caruso now or Williams for the future, though they should have no issue getting back good value for Finney-Smith after turning down multiple trade offers for him at the deadline.