3 trades if the Chicago Bulls get No. 1 pick in the draft lottery

I recently released a piece on Pippen Ain’t Easy criticizing the potential trade package from Bleacher Report mentioning a deal for the Bulls that was giving up entirely too much just to land this one player. But the pure idea of the Bulls trading for the Philadelphia 76ers sizable 6-foot-10 point guard Ben Simmons isn’t a bad one in and of itself. It just has to be for the right return.

That piece from BR proposed the trade package that would have the Bulls shipping power forward Lauri Markkanen, shooting guard Zach LaVine, and the first overall pick in the 2020 draft, just for the return of Simmons. There would have to be more coming back to the Bulls for them to give up a first overall pick, along with the promising LaVine and Markkanen.

In this particular trade idea, the Bulls would send off a bit more to the Sixers to land Simmons and they would get a little more in return. The Bulls ship off Markkanen, center Wendell Carter Jr., small forward Otto Porter Jr., and the first overall pick. They get Simmons and the former Texas Tech Red Raiders shooting guard/wing Zhaire Smith along with Simmons.

The Sixers really were exposed for how bad they can be without Simmons in the rotation in the first two games of their playoff series against the three-seed Boston Celtics, as they are now down two games to none. Simmons is a huge part of their team, and his value is really getting recognized on the national level of late.