As the March 25 NBA trade deadline approaches in just over one month, the Chicago Bulls new front office regime has to prepare for what lies ahead. First-year Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley have a team that is improving on their hands, but a few impending free agents could be interesting trade chips for them.
All told, Karnisovas and the Bulls have a plethora of trade chips in terms of player assets and future draft capital to work with at this year’s deadline.
A potential name to watch as the trade deadline approaches around the NBA landscape in the Bulls camp is the 29-year-old combo guard/wing Tomas Satoransky. Given his heightened production out of the gates this season combined with a team friendly contract, Sato could be a really interesting name to watch on the trade block if the Bulls do shop him.
Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report mentioned Sato as a potential top trade target at the deadline for one particular contender in the Eastern Conference this year. That one contender that BR thinks Sato could be a fit for is the Brooklyn Nets.
More on a hypothetical Chicago Bulls trade with the Nets
Here’s more on what this BR piece had to say on this subject of Sato landing with the Nets.
"Incredibly, this might not be peak proficiency for him or them, though. Just because he’s an impact table-setter, that doesn’t mean it’s how he’s optimized.If the Nets could get their hands on another distributor—like Chicago Bulls swingman Tomas Satoransky, whose 2021-22 salary is only partially guaranteed—they could allow Harden to binge on buckets like he had the past three seasons (averaging a ridiculous 33.7 points). It would also let Irving and Kevin Durant focus even more on their individual offense."
As mentioned in this BR piece, the Nets definitely don’t have a dire need to get help on the offensive end of the floor at this point in time. It’s adding another veteran presence from a quality guard in the backcourt rotation that could really help the Nets. They lost a big piece of their team earlier in the season when point guard Spencer Dinwiddie went out for the season with a partial tear in his ACL.
Sato could help provide some of that efficient offensive boost off the bench for the Nets that Dinwiddie did last season.
Moreover, what Sato could also provide for the Nets is a steady hand off the bench that could really help them come playoff time.
Sato has played in 16 games for the Bulls so far this season (starting in none of them), averaging around 20 minutes on the floor per game. And he’s averaged 6.4 points per game, 2.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.2 blocks. Sato shot 49.3 percent from the field, 44.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 90.5 percent from the free-throw line.
The Bulls currently sport a record of 12-15 following their tight three-point win over the divisional foe Detroit Pistons back at home at the United Center on Feb. 17. They now hold a two-game winning streak heading into their Feb. 19 road meeting with the Philadelphia 76ers.