The Chicago Bulls have a lot on the line on draft night, and could use a key piece of their young core as a trade chip to move up in the lottery.
There was a rather interesting report that emerged last week for the Chicago Bulls entering the most crucial part of the offseason as it pertains to any potential altering of the roster construction. The Bulls apparently are higher on power forward Lauri Markkanen than center Wendell Carter Jr. this offseason, if they were to move up in a draft night trade next week.
NBA Draft night 2020 is set to take place on Nov. 18, giving the Bulls just four days from now to get their big board and any trade plans set. But there’s been no ruling out of newly hired executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley trading up or down with their fourth overall pick in the 2020 draft lottery.
The Bulls did catch a nice stroke of luck by landing the fourth overall pick in the 2020 draft lottery in the first place. They had to jump up three spots in the lottery odds to get into the top four. And the three teams picking ahead of them will be (in order from top-to-bottom) the Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors, and then the Charlotte Hornets.
To get a prospect like the Illawarra Hawks potent point guard LaMelo Ball, Memphis Tigers center James Wiseman, or the ultra-athletic Georgia Bulldogs shooting guard Anthony Edwards, the Bulls likely would have to move into the top three. That’s not an out of this world possibility that Karnisovas and Eversley pull the trigger on moving up if it’s in the cards next week.
But if the Bulls are using the likes of WCJ as a potential trade chip to move up on draft night, what moves could they make realistically?