Chicago Bulls: Thaddeus Young should be first player traded

The Chicago Bulls do have a trade chip that could be worth sending out this offseason for the right return with forward Thaddeus Young.

The constant rumor mill surrounding some of the more notable names on the current Chicago Bulls roster makes it difficult to decipher what is to come for this team during the 2020 offseason. While the Bulls should be keeping all options on the table entering the thick of the offseason, they also shouldn’t have as much turmoil going on as there is now.

At the moment, the Bulls do look like possibly the most dysfunctional team in the NBA. Now that the New York Knicks were able to reshape a lot of their front office and get a decent head coaching hire in place, they even look to be in a better spot right now than the Bulls, at least in the Eastern Conference.

The Bulls could still salvage this 2020 offseason if they were to make the necessary changes to the roster construction and the coaching staff. And the first to go should be head coach Jim Boylen, who might be the worst in the NBA entering the offseason.

However, making the proper changes to the 15-man roster entering the 2020-21 season will also be an important step for the Bulls to get it right heading into the fourth year of the rebuild. A key move they could make to possibly take a step in the right direction would be finding the right trade package to piece together to send veteran forward Thaddeus Young out of the Windy City.

A recent report from K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago did mention that Young is very “available” on the trade block at the moment. Given that Young was also very much on the trade block during the 2020 deadline, it would make sense that the Bulls are continuing to shop him.

It’s not to say that Young is invaluable to this Bulls team, or was bad during the 2019-20 season, but he just didn’t fit the role that likely he expected to or the fan base expected him to either.

In the season that was with the Bulls, Young played in 64 games (16 of which he started). Young averaged 10.3 points per game, 4.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.4 blocks. He shot 44.8 percent from the field, 35.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 58.3 percent from the free-throw line.

To make matters worse, he posted one of the worst box plus/minus ratings (-1.1) of his career to date and one of his lowest numbers of win shares per 48 minutes (.058). If the Bulls have the opportunity to sell high on him now and let him join a contender heading into next season, it is worth doing so.

The Bulls finished up the 2019-20 season with a record of 22-43. Young does deserve to be on a better team, if the Bulls management can find the right landing spot and return for him on the trade market this offseason.