The Chicago Bulls may or may not trade Jimmy Butler and/or Derrick Rose. But, they could move up on draft night by offering the 14th pick along with Taj GIbson as a package deal for any team willing to move down. The Bulls could target a draft spot in the back half of the first 10 picks.
This year’s draft has four teams controlling most of the available picks in the first and second rounds, according to Stephen Noh of The Athletic Chicago. He also mentioned that if a team does not fill out their roster in time, they end up paying exorbitant fees to free agents just to make the new league minimum salary cap. Those last minute recruits may not make the grade.
Noh suggests it might be better to fill out a roster players from the draft by buying or trading for picks with one (or more) of those four teams: Philadelphia, Boston, Denver and Phoenix.
The question on everyone’s mind is, do the Chicago Bulls want anyone so bad to move up the draft this year? In 2014, Doug McDermott was Gar Forman’s personal bet.
Would Taj Gibson be good enough by himself in addition to a draft swap for a top-10 pick (or potentially adding Tony Snell to sweeten any deal)?
Next: No. 10 pick: Milwaukee Bucks
No. 10 pick: Milwaukee Bucks
The Chicago Bulls could trade Taj Gibson and swap the 14th pick for the Bucks’ 10th pick plus cash. Jason Kidd may value the 10th enough to keep it because someone like international star Dragan Bender may slide down potentially and the Bucks may like someone like him or running big Skal Labissiere. Henry Ellenson and Marquese Chriss are also big forwards who may slide to the 10th and can run and fit the Bucks’ athletic core.
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Moving up four spots will have the Bulls competing for a number of guys potentially. The makeup of the Bucks right now is long and tall greyhound-type athletes: Giannis Antetokounmpo is going full-time at point guard next year, Khris Middleton fits at the two and Jabari Parker at the wing.
Former rookie of the year Michael Carter-Williams is an injury-prone guard who may no longer fit the team after Kidd’s gamble on going big guard all the way paid off handsomely with Antetokounmpo.
The attraction of any Taj Gibson trade and draft swap hinges on the Bucks need for another veteran big who can hold the fort. Among the lottery teams looking to trade down, the Bucks do look least likely to swap their pick with the Bulls’ 14th pick unless they like the guys available there — prospects like Furkan Korkmaz and Timothe Luwawu — as guard prospects to sure up their back court.
If the deal gets done, the Bulls could snag Labissiere before he slides, Malachi Richardson –someone they may like as an NBA-ready wing and take a chance on, or Chriss if he does a Bobby Portis and slides down while the top picks are chosen among Buddy Hield, Jakob Poeltl, Deyonta Davis and Henry Ellenson, Jamal Murray or Bender himself.
Next: No. 9 pick: Toronto Raptors
No. 9 pick: Toronto Raptors
The Raptors may be losing not only DeMar DeRozan this summer in the free agency bidding wars. Bismack Biyombo may also be commanding a whopping $17M salary in the free agent market, so a Taj Gibson offer fills a hole with a veteran power forward-center, while the 14th can still net the Raptors someone like Korkmaz, Luwawu or Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis as a big.
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If the Bulls offer a trade with Gibson that moves them up five spots (just like in 2014 for Doug McDermott) to get Chriss if he slides out of the top five picks or if grabbing Labissiere isn’t an option on the table, Malachi RIchardson could look that good for GarPax to moving up.
Chicago jumps one spot ahead of rival Milwaukee, who may be the only team that will almost assuredly take Chriss if he slides to the 10th to complete their monster roster.
The main attraction of the swap to the Raptors is getting a power forward 2-for-1 with a DeRozan replacement at the 14th instead of just getting one and spending too much (on a max deal) in free agency for the other hole in the roster.
If Gibson is sent off, he’d reunite with former Bull and draft mate James Johnson, another player whom the Raptors can retain next year.
Next: No. 8 pick: Sacramento Kings
No. 8 pick: Sacramento Kings
Taj Gibson could be dangled to Sacramento and the Bulls can swap picks with them, plus Ben McLemore as the salary match player whom GarPax did want in the Pau Gasol trade proposal last February.
All U Can Heat
GarPax may really want McLemore, who desperately needs a change of scenery because his game has dipped in Sacramento for not having a consistent long range shot, but he works for the Bulls as a slashing wing and an attacker.
Fred Hoiberg may pitch in his preference for a younger explosive player at the expense of a fragile power forward who is going to be 31 this coming season.
Moving down to the 14th still allows the Kings to still get Luwawu or Korkmaz to add depth in the back court after McLemore leaves. If no one takes Demetrius Jackson or Wade Baldwin IV, the Kings can get either to compensate for the possible loss of Rajon Rondo.
If the Bulls’ back court stays intact (no Butler/Rose trade), they still get McLemore plus a top-10 pick without having to lower the draft regulations on their owed pick to the Bulls.
Next: No. 7 pick: Denver Nuggets
No. 7 pick: Denver Nuggets
Denver might want a proven NBA power forward over either Dragan Bender or Jakob Poeltl who are two of their projected picks at No. 7 and they still can get another power forward at the 14th pick. The Nuggets have the seventh, the 15th and the 19th picks on Thursday night.
An aging frontline and backcourt depth are their roster needs, so a deal with the Bulls can still net them Henry Ellenson if he slides to 14th, or potentially grab anyone from Deyonta Davis to Cheick Diallo earlier than expected.
With their 15th pick still in hand, they can grab a combo guard–Denver draft workouts point to the Nuggets possibly gunning for Euro-wings in Luwawu and Korkmaz. (That’s unless they like Marquese Chriss as their crowd-drawing project developing alongside point guard of their future, Emmanuel Mudiay, which means the Bulls must go higher than No. 7.)
Also, the Nuggets have the 19th pick, which allows them to pick another player that can make a draft swap-trade more attractive if they feel the middle picks can still net them what they need for the team.
Besides Chriss, valuable prospects like Jaylen Brown, Jamal Murray or even high-risk, high-rewards guys like Skal Labissiere and Dejounte Murray may convince the Nuggets to keep their best pick.
Next: No. 6 pick: New Orleans Pelicans
No. 6 pick: New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans desperately need help in the middle to spell Anthony Davis from banging around too much and getting hurt. Taj Gibson looks like a good fit as a tandem big with the phenomenal big man from Chicago.
The Pelicans get to trade with the Bulls and still get the 14th to grab a young power forward like bruiser Damian Jones, Cheick Diallo or Deyonta Davis. Pelicans general manager Dell Demps is notorious for trading lottery picks for veterans, so GarPax may choose to work gingerly with the Pelicans to give them what they think they need.
At sixth, the Bulls can lurk for just about any prospect at that point. You name them, they’re probably on the board.
The only red flag to this trade may be Gibson not passing a team physical. The No. 6 spot may still look too valuable to trade down for a struggling Pelicans team, but who knows. A deal could always be something to consider and the 14th spot has plenty of sleepers in a power forward-rich first round.
Demps may really like the idea of Taj Gibson (plus Tony Snell) and a swap between picks in the first round.
Next: No. 4 pick: Phoenix Suns
No. 4 pick: Phoenix Suns
A weird rumor circulated recently that the Los Angeles Lakers are looking to ship out D’Angelo Russell for an additional top-5 pick. The Suns hold three first-round picks (including the 4th overall), Russell has a character that may rub off teammates the wrong way and Luke Walton taking over as head coach may want a more cohesive and united locker room over another Dwight Howard prankster on the team.
Swarm and Sting
The Suns may deal with the Lakers in a draft-and-trade deal. Among the teams in the top five picks, the Suns are rumored to be the only team that may take Dragan Bender with a top-5 pick and possibly Marquese Chriss.
Suns general manager Ryan McDonough reportedly had a personal dinner with both Bender and Chriss before observing a team work out by both lottery prospects. The Suns have invited virtually all top 20 prospects for workouts, given that they do have three picks in the first 28 selections.
Knowing this, a Taj Gibson trade might not be in the cards with Phoenix and GarPax may either weigh carefully if the players they like in the top-5 are worth shipping Jimmy Butler out instead to sweeten a deal.
If Gar Forman likes a player, he does pull out all stops to acquire him like he did with NIkola Mirotic and Doug McDermott.
Next: How have the Bulls chosen and found players recently around draft time?
These are all heads-up primers on what other teams may like and what to expect given that the Bulls front office do make deals on draft night to acquire whom they like. (That goes as far back as Jerry Krause doing something to get Scottie Pippen.