2) Chicago Bulls trade targets to salary match with OPJ: Andrew Wiggins
It might not be too popular of a move with a lot of Bulls fans to go after another overpaid wing in his 20’s to replace OPJ in the rotation. And what could make matters worse in the eye of public opinion in regards to hypothetically trading for a player like the former Kansas Jayhawks small forward Andrew Wiggins is that he is a much higher usage player than OPJ.
The 6-foot-7 and 200 pound 25-year-old Wiggins was the first overall pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2014 NBA Draft. But he was immediately dealt from the Cavaliers to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the trade that sent Kevin Love to Cleveland. Wiggins spent six seasons with the Timberwolves before he was dealt to the Golden State Warriors last season.
It seems like Wiggins found a good fit with the Warriors, playing alongside the likes of superstar point guard Stephen Curry (at least for a bit of time) and forward Draymond Green. He played in 54 games during the shortened 2019-20 regular season (42 with the Timberwolves and a dozen with the Warriors). And he started in all of them.
Wiggins averaged 21.8 points per game, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.1 blocks. And he shot 44.7 percent from the field, 33.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 70.9 percent from the free-throw line. His advanced metrics saw a slight uptick once he joined the Warriors, including around a two percent boost in true shooting percentage and around .020 more win shares per 48 minutes.
The major downside in the Bulls trading for Wiggins would be that he has a contract that averages around $30-31 million per year through the end of the 2022-23 season.