What the Chicago Bulls would trade to get Chris Paul
After this trade deal, the two highest paid players on the Bulls cap sheet would officially be CP3 (north of $40 million throughout most of the rest of the life of his current contract) and fellow point guard Dennis Schroder. The Bulls would get a legit sixth man to command the second unit as the floor general off the bench with Schroder.
The Thunder owe Schroder just north of $15 million throughout most of the remainder of his current contract. Schroder was one of the better sixth men in the NBA during the 2019-20 season. He played in 65 regular season games with the Thunder (two of which he started in). Schroder averaged 18.9 points per game, 3.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.2 blocks. He shot 46.9 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 83.9 percent from the free-throw line.
To match salaries in this possible trade package, the Bulls ship off shooting guard Zach LaVine, small forward Otto Porter Jr., and veteran forward Thaddeus Young. Since the Bulls would have a really crowded backcourt if they traded for both Schroder and CP3 and didn’t give up any of the likes of Tomas Satoransky, LaVine, Coby White, etc., this does make sense for them.
LaVine would provide a legit rising star for the Thunder to build around alongside standout guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in their backcourt. They would also add a few key pieces to help the supporting cast around LaVine and SGA, with the overpaid but valuable two-way wing OPJ and the veteran quality role player Young.