Chicago Bulls: Landing Spot for Lauri Markkanen – Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic have been a disappointing team so far this season, which has led to the team openly listening to trade offers for the talented Aaron Gordon. Gordon’s skill set and versatility has a list of rumored teams pursuing the forward and it makes complete sense.
Gordon likely wouldn’t be a return for the Chicago Bulls, as he is already locked into a significant financial compensation for years to come that the Bulls should prefer avoiding for any players with question marks. With so many suitors, though, the Bulls may be able to find the return they desire in a multi-team trade.
Young players and future draft assets are the exact types of fliers this Bulls team needs to take for a player they are going to lose anyway this upcoming offseason. For the Magic, this move makes sense as they already have the leader of their team in center Nikola Vucevic, who Markkanen could fit perfectly next to.
Any of his struggles on the glass are compensated for by Vucevic, and that’s even more true when Jonathan Isaac eventually returns to join the Magic roster. That makes for a versatile frontcourt that Markkanen becomes an asset in thanks to his ability to stretch the floor. He will give both players more room to operate and makes for a perfect fit next to (hopefully) point guard of the team’s future Markelle Fultz.
If it were to be a straight swap between the Bulls and the Magic, Orlando could tempt Chicago with future 2nd round picks or someone like Mo Bamba, who is clearly not a part of the teams long term outlook but possesses a skill set that made him a high lottery selection not too long ago.
Bamba doesn’t fit naturally next to Wendell Carter Jr., though they could be played next to each other as an experiment that has a longshot chance of paying off. Still, Carter Jr. is in no way locked into the core future of this Bulls roster, so bringing in someone to compete with him for minutes isn’t something the front office would be opposed to doing.