1) Chicago Bulls likely to be traded
The former Washington Wizards veteran 27-year-old 6-foot-8 and 200 pound small forward Otto Porter Jr. presents one of the more interesting trade cases for the Bulls for next season. OPJ has, by a good margin, the largest contract on the Bulls cap sheet for next season, and freeing up that space might be valuable for Karnisovas in the near future.
There is likely to be a team out there that the Bulls could find to get into trade discussions with next season that would find value in OPJ. A contender that needs to add wing depth that has the ability to match salaries, or just take on a lot of OPJ’s large contract, would have a lot of use for what he brings to the table.
If he is able to stay healthy this season for Donovan and the Bulls, then OPJ still adds a lot of value at a position of need. The Bulls still aren’t very deep on the wing, despite the additions of Williams and former Brooklyn Nets veteran 34-year-old shooting guard Garrett Temple. But there’s not much of a reason for OPJ to re-sign to stay in Chicago for the significant future once his current deal is up next offseason.
If there’s a team ready, willing, and able to get into trade discussions with the Bulls and take on OPJ’s contract, it’s worth at least seeing what it would take to pull that off. The biggest motivator for the Bulls in shopping OPJ would be bringing in more support pieces and/or future draft capital that would lure more future big time free agents to the Windy City.