Former Lottery Pick, Defensive Anchor Pitched as Bulls Trade Target

Getty Arturas Karnisovas looks on during a game between the Denver Nuggets and the Sacramento Kings.

This is just year two of the Zach LaVine-DeMar DeRozan-Lonzo Ball iteration of the Chicago Bulls, but the clock is already ticking down on the team. Next season will be the final year of DeRozan’s deal and Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and others are in contract years right now.

As such, there’s a real sense that the club’s decision-makers, led by EVP Arturas Karnisovas, should do what they can to make the most of their core’s window. With that in mind, Bleacher Report‘s Zach Buckley just pitched San Antonio Spurs big man Jakob Poeltl as a potential trade target. Wrote Buckley:

Poeltl would be a much cleaner fit for this group than incumbent center Nikola Vucevic. The latter might be the superior scorer and shooter, but that doesn’t matter much when his production gets held back by his place behind DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine on the offensive pecking order…

As noted by Buckley, the Bulls actually inquired about Poeltl previously. And there’s a good chance that San Antonio will be motivated to get something back for him before the deadline, too, lest he walk for nothing in the summer as an unrestricted free agent.

Chicago may stand to benefit from adding the former lottery pick as well.

The Case for Poeltl as a Bulls Fit

Over his first 20 appearances of the 2022-23 campaign, the 27-year-old Poeltl is averaging a respectable 12.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.0 blocks and 0.9 steals per contest. Along the way, he has hit pay dirt on 64.0% of his field-goal attempts overall and a career-best 76.4% on attempts within three feet of the hoop.

As good as he is around the basket offensively, though, his abilities as a paint protector may be better, even as he’s not an elite-level shot-blocker.

Last season, the Spurs center’s 14.2 shot contests per game were the most of any player in the league. Consequently, opponents’ field-goal percentages dropped by 8.3% on average when attempting shots within six feet of the hoop with Poeltl as the closest defender.

Getting back to the offensive side, though, Poeltl’s supplemental skill set could make for a better mix with perimeter scoring threats like LaVine, DeRozan and Lonzo Ball (when he comes back) on the roster. Poeltl ranked second league-wide in screen assists last season at 5.5. per game. And he’s one of the better passing big men in the Association.

Bulls Still Not Getting Power-Rankings Love

In the December 2 edition of B/R’s NBA power rankings, the Bulls continued to languish in the bottom third of the Association, dropping one spot from No. 22 to No. 23. Wrote B/R’s Andy Bailey:

The Chicago Bulls seem destined to remain in the throes of mediocrity this season, at least until Lonzo Ball returns from another knee surgery (which should hopefully happen in 2023).

Despite having two 20-point-per-game scorers in DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, the Bulls have a bottom-third offense.

That may be attributable to ranking 28th in the league in threes per game and having one of the least efficient shot profiles in the NBA.