The Chicago Bulls front office has made a habit of dealing on NBA Draft night. What trades can Gar Forman and John Paxson get themselves into this year?
The Chicago Bulls have been involved in a few rumors this offseason and none of them have been true or came to fruition. One thing that is true, the Bulls front office loves making deals when everyone’s watching on draft night.
In the Gar Forman and John Paxson era, the Bulls have made trades during the NBA Draft like we use the ESPN Trade Machine. Not all of them have worked, actually, most of them haven’t.
The Bulls have drafted and traded Norris Cole (2011), Gary Harris (2013), Jusuf Nurkic (2013), Jordan Bell (2017) immediately after selecting them.
They have also drafted Marquis Teague (2012), Tony Snell (2013) Bobby Portis (2015), and Justin Patton (2017) in the first round and either cut them or traded them within the expiration of their rookie contracts.
The only trade that really worked out in the Bulls favor once sending All-Star Jimmy Butler to Minnesota for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the No. 7 overall pick that turned out to be Lauri Markkenen was one to remember.
If Forman and Paxson decide to make a deal similar to this on draft night it would have to include LaVine which Bulls fans everywhere hope doesn’t happen.
Rumors around the Bulls organization do not believe they will deal LaVine and the team will continue to focus building around 2017 and 2018 first-round picks Markkenen and Wendell Carter Jr.
The Chicago Bulls more than likely will be aggressively trying to strike a deal and get the player highest on their draft board, and focus on free agency to bring in a few veterans, but GarPax could accelerate the Bulls rebuild in a few ways tomorrow night.