Chicago Bulls: Re-evaluating 5 players likely to be traded first in offseason

5. Tomas Satoransky, Guard

Last offseason, it appeared that one of the best moves that GarPax made in free agency/on the trade market in recent memory transpired with the sign-and-trade to nab 6-foot-7 combo guard Tomas Satoransky. The Bulls did make seemingly beneficial deals with the Washington Wizards to nab both Sato in a sign-and-trade last summer and a player swap to get small forward Otto Porter Jr. at the 2019 trade deadline.

To get OPJ, the Bulls shipped out the former young forward duo of Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker. To get Sato, the Bulls just had to get him signed to a three-year contract worth $30 million. That’s a good deal for a player that is efficient on both ends of the floor like Sato. It’s an added bonus that the final year of his contract is only partially guaranteed ($5 million non-guaranteed).

So far this season, Sato was one of the most durable Bulls players. He played in all 65 regular season games prior to the COVID-19 pandemic-induced hiatus. In those 65 games, he averaged 9.9 points per game, 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.2 steals, while shooting 43.0 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from beyond the arc.

With the Bulls having the possibility of either signing a better fitting veteran guard in free agency, or drafting one this year under the new front office regime, the necessity to have Sato around could decrease. There’s a number of other contenders around the NBA that could use his services, like the Sixers and Los Angeles Lakers.