Proposed Trade Lands Bulls 3-and-D Wing for Ex Top-10 Pick

Getty Images Coby White

The Chicago Bulls have had a busy offseason so far. First, they drafted Dalen Terry out of Arizona with the 18th overall pick in the NBA Draft. Then free agency got underway and the Bulls got to work re-signing Zach LaVine to a max contract of five years at $215 million.

LaVine was the team’s top priority in free agency as they wanted to keep the core together. The Bulls were also able to re-sign Derrick Jones Jr. to a two-year contract.

Chicago was also able to add veterans Andre Drummond and Goran Dragic on inexpensive contracts to help bolster the roster. It’s likely that the Bulls are done in terms of free agency, but the team could still try to address some needs through trade.

Proposed Trade

Despite the Bulls’ moves in free agency the team still has some holes in the roster. Chicago still doesn’t have a rim protector and could also use some help with perimeter defense and three-point shooting.

Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley wrote a new article on Wednesday proposing a new trade idea for each NBA team after free agency. For the San Antonio Spurs Buckley proposed they trade Josh Richardson to the Bulls in exchange for Coby White and Marko Simonivic.

The San Antonio Spurs are clearly open for business after trading away Dejounte Murray, and rival clubs think Richardson, Jakob Poeltl and Doug McDermott are all available, per Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus. If Richardson is up for grabs, the Bulls would do themselves a favor by adding him to their wing rotation.

San Antonio, meanwhile, could exit the exchange with a scoring guard in White and a skilled big in Simonovic, both of whom are 22 years old.

Is either one an automatic keeper for the long haul? Nope, but at least there’s a chance one (or both) forces his way into those plans. That hope alone is good value for a replacement-level veteran like Richardson.

Richardson would certainly help the Bulls in terms of perimeter defense and three-point shooting. Last season Richardson played 65 games for the Celtics and Spurs averaging 10.2 points while shooting 41.5% from three.

The Bulls have reportedly been interested in trading White since the offseason began, however, it’s unclear if they’d be willing to trade Simonivic. In the first three games of the Bulls Summer League so far Simonivic has been up and down.

In the Bulls’ first Summer League game he posted 27 points and 13 rebounds but in the two games since he’s tallied just eight points and ten rebounds total. If Chicago can acquire a quality veteran like Richardson the team might be willing to include Simonivic in a trade.

Potential Fit

The one hang-up with acquiring a player like Richardson for the Bulls would be the amount of wings they already have on the offer. However, Richardson would bring something different to the group with his defense and three-point shooting.

Richardson posted a defensive rating of 110.4 this past season according to statmuse. He also has a career defensive rating of 109.4.

It’s unclear if the Bulls are still looking to make changes to the roster at this time. However, if a player like Richardson became available the team would probably have to consider it.