This offseason will be a time where we could see some significant trade ideas line up for the Chicago Bulls new front office regime.
Not much went right for the Chicago Bulls in the first three years of the rebuild, under former vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman. This team never even got to win 30 games in a single season, and were well out of playoff contention prior to the pause during the 2019-20 regular season.
To wrap up the 2019-20 season prior to the pause, the Bulls registered a record of 22-43. That record was enough to let management part ways with now former head coach Jim Boylen. The move to let go of Boylen came a few months after all of the shifts in the front office from the top-down.
Back in spring, the Bulls pulled the plug on the front office regime that was GarPax and replaced them with former Denver Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas and Philadelphia 76ers senior VP of player personnel Marc Eversley. Karnisovas will be taking over as the lead voice in the front office, officially tabbed executive VP of basketball operations. And Eversley will be taking over for Forman as the Bulls next general manager.
However, the Bulls are in a seemingly advantageous spot this offseason to build up the roster heading into the 2020-21 season. They have some draft capital and young and talented players that could be valuable trade chips, if Karnisovas and Eversley so decide to shop them.
But in a recent “Ask Sam Mailbag” with Bulls team writer (formerly of the Chicago Tribune) Sam Smith, he addressed a question about a potential trade with the Sacramento Kings for standout point guard De’Aaron Fox. If the Bulls could pull off a trade like that, then it would be a pretty wise move it would seem.
Here’s more on what Smith had to say on that idea.
"Who wouldn’t? Fox is easily their best player and would solve a lot of issues for a lot of teams. They’ve been on the verge of going somewhere for years and never seem to. Now it’s if Marvin Bagley can ever get healthy. They got a new GM this week, one of those Houston guys apparently dedicated to the video game three-point culture overrunning the game. You know if they had Shaq they’d have him shooting threes. But they did add Joe Dumars in an advisory role. And he was the one who actually began this 6-8 center craze with Ben Wallace. Could there yet be hope for the Kings? Whatever it becomes it figures still to be built around Fox."
In 51 games played during the 2019-20 regular season (all but two of which he started in), Fox was solid for the Kings. He averaged 21.1 points per game, 3.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks. Fox shot 48.0 percent from the field, 29.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 70.5 percent from the free-throw line.
Fox would be a really nice add for the Bulls, but probably not the most realistic one. It would be a great idea if they could make it happen, and they likely would have the trade chips to do so. But the Kings should be building around King more so than anyone else on their current roster.
The Bulls and Kings have now both undergone significant front office changes so far this offseason. But hopefully the former of the two finds themselves in a better spot in the Eastern Conference standings in the near future.