Chicago Bulls: 3 reasons to stay away from an Andre Drummond trade

3. What to do with Wendell Carter Jr.?

Maybe the most important franchise cornerstone for the Chicago Bulls at this point of their rebuild under Boylen and GarPax is second-year center Wendell Carter Jr. So far this season, Carter Jr. began making strides in his game that are different than what we saw from him as a rookie. He started to increase his range and is averaging about a double-double per game (12 points and 10 boards).

WCJ sprained his ankle in a road loss at the hands of MVP contending point guard Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks earlier this month. But the Bulls should still get Carter Jr. back before the end of the regular season. In fact, OPJ and WCJ could be returning from their respective lower-body injuries around the All-Star Break.

If the Bulls can stay afloat in the standings in the East until then, staying away from short-term moves that will hurt the franchise over the long haul can turn out to be a horrible idea. WCJ and power forward Lauri Markkanen showed a lot of potential when they were both rolling along with rising star shooting guard Zach LaVine last season.

Once OPJ returns from his foot fracture likely next month, then this could be a solid team. This team would not be doing much better if they upset the development of WCJ and clogged up the frontcourt by landing Drummond. There also aren’t many scenarios where the Pistons could send a return to the Bulls worthy of shipping out Carter Jr.