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The Chicago Bulls have had a great regular season so far. The team is off to a 38-21 start and is currently tied with the Miami Heat for first place in the Eastern Conference.
A huge part of the Bulls’ success this season has been the terrific off-season that they had. The team was able to land All-Star DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Alex Caruso. They also got possibly the steal of the 2021 NBA draft in getting Ayo Dosunmu with the 38th overall pick.
Right now it looks like the Bulls were the big winners in the summer of 2021. With that in mind, it’s fair to wonder what the team might be thinking for the 2022 offseason, and whether they could be thinking big–very big.
Another Big Move?
While this season has certainly been a success so far for the Bulls, might they consider trying to land another star this Summer? One NBA executive told Heavy.com that he thinks they could be a potential landing spot for Lakers big man Anthony Davis:
Chicago is the one place I can see AD saying, ‘OK, if you are going to trade me, send me home.’ He has always wanted to play for the Bulls. That is not a big secret. He wants to do something for his city. If you are Chicago, I do not see how you don’t make an offer, at least feel it out.
But you would have to send DeMar DeRozan back. Plus I’d say either Pat Williams or Coby White. and if it is White, then a draft pick, too. I think that is something that would at least have a chance because the Lakers can say, ‘Well he wanted to go home,’ then let his injuries be Chicago’s problem. I like DeRozan and LeBron together, you get Coby White and you flip the pick for a vet? It is not a bad deal for the Lakers, either.
Would the Bulls do it?
That proposed deal would have the Bulls giving up a lot for a player in Davis that has a laundry list of injuries. DeRozan has said this season that he thought him signing with the Lakers during the offseason was a done deal.
“I felt like going to the Lakers was a done deal and that we were going to figure it out. I was going to come home,” DeRozan told Yahoo Sports after scoring a game-high 38 points to lead the Bulls to a 121-103 victory at Staples Center. “The business side of things just didn’t work out. A couple of things didn’t align. It didn’t work out. It’s just part of the business, part of the game. My next option was definitely Chicago. So, looking back at it, it worked out well.”
The deal has certainly worked out well for the Bulls and DeRozan, who has been playing the best basketball of his career lately. His recent play has him in the MVP discussion. So would the Bulls really consider trading him for Anthony Davis?
Ultimately that could come down to what DeRozan wants. While he has certainly seemed happy in Chicago this season, if presented with the opportunity to go home, he could still be interested.
The Bulls would also have to weigh the risk and potential reward in trading for Davis. The team should definitely do a deep dive on his health to see if they think he could ever be healthy long term.
The trade is just conjecture at this point, but with talk like this already coming out, it’s going to be another interesting offseason in the NBA.
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Proposed Trade Sees Bulls Landing Lakers’ $189 Million Superstar