The Chicago Bulls are sort of rebuilding, but they’re still one big splash away from truly renovating the franchise.
Chicago’s trio of Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucević, and Lonzo Ball represent a bygone era of unfulfilling Bulls teams, and each also carries a hefty contract in relation to their basketball value.
LaVine is going to be nearly impossible to move, as has been reported.
There’s still a chance to trade Vucević and/or Ball, however, and if the Bulls are willing to think outside the box on the trade market, they could even deal both players in a single, franchise-altering deal.
Chicago’s management pair — exec Artūras Karnišovas and GM Marc Eversley — should engage the Minnesota Timberwolves on potential trades for superstar center Karl-Anthony Towns, as they might be surprised by Minnesota’s openness regarding KAT.
The Timberwolves know they can contend without Towns. Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid provide enough center depth on the roster to pair with an Anthony Edwards-centric core. As such, although Minnesota isn’t actively shopping Towns, it’d certainly listen to any offers coming in for him.
The Wolves have iffy point guard depth after losing Tyus Jones, and the Bulls have too many point guards, which is the first sign of a good trade partnership between the two teams.
Chicago offering Vucević, Ball, and rising star Ayo Dosunmu to Minnesota for Towns matches up money-wise, and before you look down on this trade from the Wolves perspective, consider that ESPN’s John Hollinger estimates that the deal would result in two more projected wins for Minnesota via the official trade machine of ESPN.com.
Minnesota would become a more balanced roster from this trade, inserting Vucević into a backup big role to spell Gobert and Reid, and then adding two bona fide ball handlers to the roster in Dosunmu and Ball, the latter of whom is on an expiring, which makes up for questions about his health.
For the Bulls, they’d be addressing a huge need at center by acquiring Towns, and in the process, they’d be moving on from Vucević and Ball, two players they’ve struggled mightily to trade.
If Chicago became unhappy with the Towns experiment in the coming year or two, they could surely dangle him back out onto the market and get a good return, barring injury.
It’s a trade that appears unrealistic at first glance, but upon closer inspection becomes not only practical but plausible for both teams.
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