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What the Carmelo Anthony trade means for the Chicago Bulls

By Craig Brallier

NEW YORK,NY - MARCH 24: Carmelo Anthony #7 of the New York Knicks shoots the ball against the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden on March 24, 2015 in New York,New York NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW YORK,NY - MARCH 24: Carmelo Anthony #7 of the New York Knicks shoots the ball against the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden on March 24, 2015 in New York,New York NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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On Saturday, the Oklahoma City Thunder shocked the basketball world when they traded Doug McDermott, Enes Kanter and a second-round draft pick for Carmelo Anthony, adding him to the dynamic duo of Paul George and reigning MVP Russell Westbrook. How does that trade effect the Chicago Bulls, you ask?

First of all, the trade that brought Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder is almost the exact same trade the Chicago Bulls made with OKC to get Cameron Payne.

The trade for the Bulls involved Doug McDermott, Taj Gibson, the same second-round pick and Joffrey Lauvergne. It’s hard to say if the Bulls could’ve swung that deal had they kept those assets, but in theory, they lost a shot at Anthony, which would have been welcomed this season.

But, that’s not the big picture. Why cry over spilt milk?

This trade could very well hurt the Bulls in the long term, but it won’t seem that way. The way I see it, six of the eight seeds in the East are locked up already by Boston, Philly, Cleveland, Toronto, Washington and Milwaukee, leaving the likes of Atlanta, Orlando, New York, Charlotte, Chicago and New York to battle for the final two seeds.

Pre-Melo trade, I was going to throw the Knicks in one of those top seven seeds, leaving just one to fill, likely being Charlotte. But with two seeds open, that leaves the door wide open for these bad teams, including the Bulls, to battle for the last two seeds in the playoffs, and the Bulls could very well make it.

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Atlanta and Orlando have underwhelming rosters and Kristaps Porzingis can only take the Knicks so far (and he has to remain healthy). The door is wide open.

When Zach LaVine returns from his ACL recovery, the Bulls don’t have the worst starting five out of those teams. LaVine, Kris Dunn, Denzel Valentine, Nikola Mirotic and Robin Lopez could be good enough to power the Bulls into the final seed in the East, which would be exciting for fans, considering this is set to be one of the worst season in franchise history.

And for the front office, playoff revenue is always a nice thing to have.

Here’s where it hurts: If the Bulls end up in the playoffs, there goes a lottery pick. There goes that shot at the top pick in the draft. Trading Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose, and letting Joakim Noah and Dwyane Wade walk away will all have been for nothing. It’s hard to rebuild with mid-first round picks and with Chicago’s track record of signing big-name free agents, that doesn’t seem like the long-term solution either.

It would just mean another season of mediocrity, leaving Bulls’ fans even more frustrated with the front office. It really depends on how the players look at this season.

Will the Bulls accept the culture of tanking or will they go out and play their tails off and try to push for the playoffs with this group?

Knowing how competitive some of the players are, I assume it’s the latter. And sure, a lot of the games they play against Western Conference teams will be losses, but they only see them twice, while they see the less competitive East teams four times, giving them the chance to make up for those losses.

Next: Wisconsin guard Bronson Koenig joins the training camp roster

With the preseason starting on Tuesday, only time will tell us how the organization will approach this season, and it could be tough, or inspiring to watch.

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