Chicago Bulls: Way too early trade candidates for next year’s deadline

The NBA season hasn’t even started yet but it’s always fun to think about the trade deadline. Here are 2 Chicago Bulls that could be traded in February.

While the trade deadline is months from now and lots of things will change before then, it’s always fun to think about what might happen for the Chicago Bulls around that time. For this upcoming season, I see the Bulls as potential sellers rather than buyers.

The Bulls won’t be contending for an Eastern Conference title this season so their moves would likely be to acquire young talent or picks. There are really only two players on this current Bulls roster that make sense to trade, in my opinion. The first one is perhaps the most obvious.

Robin Lopez

Robin Lopez is a name you hear a lot when hypothesizing about potential Bulls trades – and for good reason. There’s nothing wrong with RoLo. In fact, I’d say he’s a great guy to have on the team (for now). I just don’t see the Bulls having a need for him come February.

I would expect Lopez to be the day one starter for the Bulls at the center position, even though Wendell Carter Jr. will probably take over that role soon. Lopez will be capable of serving as a useful mentor to the 19-year-old from Duke and a rock-solid veteran in a lineup full of young guys. I can’t picture the Bulls letting Wendell Carter Jr. spend much of his rookie season on the bench, though. Carter needs all the first team reps he can get so he definitely needs to be the starter by the time the trade deadline rolls around.

Lopez is set to make roughly $14 million in the 2018-19 season before becoming an unrestricted free agent. That’s enough money to make him the third highest paid player on the team.

The Bulls don’t really have to worry about the contract, though, considering they wouldn’t have to re-sign him next summer. If the Bulls trade Lopez at the deadline, I would expect it to be because they want to give Wendell Carter Jr. the majority of the minutes at the 5.

Once Carter makes the leap to being a starter, there probably won’t be any bench minutes for Lopez, either. I’m guessing the frontcourt for the second unit will be made up of unique combinations of Lauri Markkanen, Bobby Portis or Jabari Parker at the 4/5. If they aren’t going to use Lopez, they might as well see what they can get for him.

I’m sure there will be some contender in need of a quality center who can defend, set good picks and shoot a nice mid-range jumper when February hits.

Denzel Valentine

In his sophomore season, Denzel Valentine averaged 10.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting a nice 38.6 percent from 3-point range. Those are pretty solid numbers for the 24-year-old wing.

Valentine showed a lot of improvement from his rookie year to his sophomore year, the problem now becomes finding his role on this current Chicago Bulls team.

The Bulls are loaded with wings at the moment. After a nice offseason, they’ll likely go into the 2018-19 regular season with Zach LaVine, Jabari Parker, Chandler Hutchison, Justin Holiday and Antonio Blakeney all playing out on the wing. What does that mean for Valentine?

Sure, he might be a better option than Antonio Blakeney but I would much rather have minutes going to Parker, LaVine, Hutchison and Holiday. While I believe Valentine is a fine player, I think his days as a Bull may be numbered.

Maybe the Bulls could include him in a deal with Robin Lopez near the trade deadline or maybe I’m completely wrong about all of this. Only time will tell.