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Even with the postseason still in play, the NBA offseason is active with reporting and trade rumors, and the Chicago Bulls have found themselves in the middle of it all.
After acquiring All-Star big man Nikola Vucevic at the trade deadline, and with fellow All-Star guard Zach LaVine entering a contract year, it’s expected to be a busy summer in the Windy City.
Chicago will be tied to any and all top talent that hits the free agency and/or trade market this offseason, as they look to form a “Big Three” and bring playoff basketball back to the United Center.
But don’t expect them to just jump at the first All-Star that’s made available. Arturas Karnisovas emptied a shelf out of the cupboard in the deal for Vucevic; two first-round picks and Wendell Carter Jr.
Even with control of all the team’s first-round picks from 2024 on, expect the Bulls’ front office to be vigilant in getting the best talent that their assets can afford.
Whether “assets” means cap space, young talent, or draft pick compensation.
And that’s exactly why despite all the mounting speculation surrounding Ben Simmons’ future with the Philadelphia 76ers, a trade to the Chicago Bulls should be viewed as unlikely.
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Ben Simmons On the Way Out in Philadelphia?
The Philadelphia 76ers walk into Friday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks facing elimination, down 3-2.
And a lot of their struggles in the series can be directly traced to Ben Simmons’ timid approach on offense.
The former first overall pick is averaging 11.6 points over six games thus far, but the majority of his struggles lie at the charity stripe, where he’s an abysmal 12-of-39 on free throws for the series.
Nate McMillan and the Atlanta Hawks have turned to “Hack-A-Ben” at the end of games, knowing that Simmons can’t hit free throws. There are few more frustrating trends in basketball today.
If the 76ers are eliminated in Game Six on Friday night, expect rumors of a big offseason in Philadelphia to heat up quicker than Stephen Curry after seeing one 30-footer go through the net.
And Ben Simmons will be at the heart of it all, whether justifiably or not.
This brings us to the Chicago Bulls and their potential interest in the 24-year old. Because despite his free-throw inability and overall ineptitude as a scorer, Simmons is among the best in the league on the defensive end.
Ben Simmons to Chicago?
One plus side for teams looking into a potential trade for Ben Simmons is that his value may have never been lower than it is today, as Zach Lowe noted on a recent episode of his podcast, The Lowe Post:
The GMs of the other teams watch the playoffs very, very closely. And there are definitely teams that I have talked to over the last 48 hours who were once in on Simmons, who say at least to me, and it could be posturing, we’re a little less in than we used to be.
In regards to a potential Chicago Bulls trade for the forward, by way of a swap for Zach LaVine, Lowe was pessimistic:
I don’t even know how realistic it is, and it’s been mentioned before, but not for Simmons, but Zach LaVine? I’m not sure Chicago would do it…You can at least talk yourself into ‘we have a perimeter shooting center.’…They would do it because they can see the LaVine extension looming, and they’re like ‘ooh, we’ve never really won with him.’
It would likely take more from Philadelphia to convince Karnisovas and company to part with LaVine. Even if they feel the guard will turn down extension talks, there’s value in the cap space that would open up in his absence.
Is it a stretch to say that the aforementioned cap space could prove a more valuable asset than Ben Simmons?
The 24-year old is under contract through the 2024-2025 season for a guaranteed $140.4 million.
Food for thought ahead of a potentially franchise-altering offseason for Arturas Karnisovas and the Chicago Bulls.
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