1) Chicago Bulls pre-deadline trades involving OPJ
The riskiest of the three trade deals on this list involving OPJ, purely in terms of the clogging of the cap sheet, would be the potential of the Bulls taking on the contract of the veteran star power forward Kevin Love. What could work out in the end in this hypothetical trade deal for the Bulls is getting the former Vanderbilt Commodores floor general Darius Garland in the mix.
What the Bulls ship off for the return of Love and Garland is the lengthy 6-foot-7 and 210 pound combo guard Tomas Satoransky and OPJ. The Cavaliers get a few veteran pieces, and largely clean up their cap sheet, all at the same time. Love is by a good margin the highest paid player on their current cap sheet. He would be in the same spot on the Bulls cap sheet.
If there’s a role that Karnisovas could find in this Bulls rotation for the likes of Love and Garland, then it could make sense for them. It would get a bit crowded alongside the likes of second-year point guard Coby White and LaVine. But having a potent insurance policy behind them in the form of Garland could be a good move over the long haul.
Love himself is off to a slow start this season for a young and developing Cavaliers team. It just doesn’t seem like he is the right fit at all with this Cavaliers team at this point in time. Trading him is a move that the front office likely wouldn’t hesitate to do if it wouldn’t be too risky for them.