Getty Kevin Durant #7 reacts with Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets
The Chicago Bulls are still being mentioned in connection with Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant. Durant’s trade request knocked a pause into the NBA offseason that only recently shook loose and by very little.
Durant’s list of desired teams has expanded from the Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns to include the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers.
Betting information site OddsShark posted the Bulls at plus-2200.
That they are even on the list is enough for Evan Sidery of BasketballNews.com to consider them a sleeper candidate for the 12-time All-Star and 2-time NBA champ. But just how deeply are they sleeping?
Bulls Could ‘Truly Shock Everyone’
According to Sidery, the Bulls’ actions need to be geared toward the present. He adds that they “feel one big splash away” from truly contending in the Eastern Conference. Despite their standing atop the East for much of last season, the Bulls struggled against other top teams.
He also suggests that Rudy Gobert may have been that splash. But the Bulls ultimately could never have matched what the Utah Jazz got in return anyway.
Despite that, Sidery offers up the Bulls as a team that would “truly shock everyone”
Bulls Get
- Kevin Durant
Nets Get
- DeMar DeRozan
- Patrick Williams
- Lonzo Ball (or Alex Caruso)
- 1st Rd Pick (via POR)
“Durant represents a roster upgrade of seismic proportions — a bump that might be necessary to become a Finals contender the next few years. Why not push the chips in and see what happens with Durant and Zach LaVine as a 1-2 punch?”
Conventional wisdom says that the Nets should ask for and receive more in return for Durant than the Jazz got for Gobert.
That package has yet to present itself, though, and the situation continues to deteriorate.
“For a team that has to remain in win-now mode because of its draft picks being sent elsewhere, Brooklyn might be intrigued enough to listen to something centered around DeRozan, Williams, and other assets.”
That sounds good. But there’s just one major problem.
Nets Not Interested In Bulls ‘Fairytale’
The Bulls made their call to the Nets like the other 28 teams did to inquire about what it would take to pry Durant loose, reports Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. But their conversations didn’t get very far
“The Bulls did their due diligence last month and at least made a phone call to Brooklyn, but they were told they didn’t fit the profile of what the Nets wanted back…All-Star-caliber players and a boatload of draft picks.”
Sidery acknowledged the Bulls “gutted” their draft capital to assemble this group. But, even if they had all of their picks at their disposal, Cowley reminded everyone of another potentially major roadblock.
Durant’s 2017 burner account incident in which he admitted he did not like playing for current Bulls head coach Billy Donovan while with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Durant and Donovan have said all the right things, but Durant has shown throughout his career — even as he matures in his manner of dealing with criticism — that he also holds grudges. If he didn’t like playing for Donovan in the low-pressure environment of Oklahoma City, why would he like playing for him in the shadows of the Michael Jordan statue after all but holding the Nets hostage for a trade?”
Durant to Bulls Longest of Shots
What Sidery deemed a “sleeper” scenario, Cowley called an outright “fairytale”. Not only do the Bulls lack the requisite assets to get a player of Durant’s caliber at his current list price. But they have also pushed the narrative of continuity all offseason.
There are some who consider them to be candidates for a major trade when next year’s deadline rolls around in February.
Still, calling them a long shot for Durant would be putting it lightly.
It does speak to the work that Bulls vice president Arturas Karnisovas has been able to do in the last two years. The Bulls haven’t been considered a fit for a superstar since Carmelo Anthony was close in 2014.