Chicago Bulls: BR proposes unnecessary Devin Booker-LaVine trade

Devin Booker Mandatory Credit: Ashley Landis/Pool Photo-USA TODAY Sports
Devin Booker Mandatory Credit: Ashley Landis/Pool Photo-USA TODAY Sports

Trade proposals are coming in bunches of late around the media and hoops fan landscape involving the Chicago Bulls just ahead of draft night.

The trade proposals sometimes get a bit outlandish at this point of the offseason. With the 2020 NBA Draft and the start of the next free agent cycle just around the corner later this month, constant trade hypotheticals and unsubstantiated rumors circulate around NBA fan circles day-by-day. And the Chicago Bulls currently sit firmly in the middle of some of those discussions.

On Nov. 10, the Bleacher Report NBA staff put together some trade proposals that the Phoenix Suns could consider if they want to ship out the likes of rising star former Kentucky Wildcats shooting guard Devin Booker. And one of those trade proposals put together by the Bleacher Report staff involved the Bulls.

Specifically, BR NBA writer Greg Schwartz put together the details on the trade proposal between the Bulls and Suns, namely involving Booker. Here’s a look at the trade proposal pitched by Schwartz between the Bulls and Suns.

This hypothetical trade package sees the Bulls ship off the likes of standout shooting guard Zach LaVine, power forward Lauri Markkanen, forward Thaddeus Young, and their fourth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery. In return, the Suns send the Bulls Booker and former Washington Wizards wing Kelly Oubre.

And here’s more on what Schwartz had to say on the reasoning of this trade package for each side.

"With a new front office in Chicago, what better way to energize the fanbase than with a trade for Booker?The Bulls should be thinking playoffs this year, and the addition of Booker and Oubre to a core of Wendell Carter Jr., Coby White and Otto Porter Jr. should be enough to grab a spot in the East.Booker would be the most talented player to put on a Bulls uniform since MVP Derrick Rose and has a young core to grow around him. New head coach Billy Donovan did wonders with his trio of guards in Oklahoma City last year, seeing a huge jump in play from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and an All-Star year from Chris Paul."

Booker did finish off the 2019-20 season on a high note, as did the Suns as a whole. Oubre also helps the Bulls add much needed wing depth. But just about every other part of this hypothetical trade package just doesn’t seem necessary for the Bulls this offseason. They have a valuable bit of draft capital worth the fourth pick in the 2020 draft. And LaVine and Markkanen are important parts of their young core heading into the fourth year of the rebuild.

There’s not a whole lot more that the Bulls are getting out of Booker than they would LaVine. The exchange of Markkanen for Oubre doesn’t get the Bulls a whole lot of benefit in return either. To add more fuel to the flame, the Bulls have to ship off the fourth pick in this year’s draft for no other draft capital in return.

This is the time of the year, in the altered NBA offseason calendar, where weird trade packages like this will be pitched. The 2020 NBA Draft is set to begin on the night of Nov. 18, and the start of this cycle of free agency is now set to start on Nov. 22.