Chicago Bulls: Will the team regret not getting Lonzo Ball?

Following the March 31 loss to the Phoenix Suns, the Chicago Bulls have now started 0-3 since making the big Nikola Vucevic trade on deadline day. And after having back-to-back games where opposing guards have lit this team up (Stephen Curry for 32 and Devin Booker for 45 points), it begs the question, how much the Bulls desperately needed to trade for a player like Lonzo Ball?

Why Lonzo Ball for the Chicago Bulls?

Throughout the weeks leading up to the trade deadline, there were rumors circulating around that Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball wanted out of New Orleans, and more specifically, wanted to play for either Chicago or New York. However, while rumors like this for the most part are typically dismissed, it was also reported that the interest was seemingly mutual, and the Bulls wanted to trade for Ball. Finally, outside of the off-the-court interest in the media, the former UCLA Bruin seemingly fixed a lot of the issues the Bulls were having on the court.

With the sudden rise to stardom for Bulls scorer Zach LaVine, Chicago needed to find a complimentary guard to pair next to him in the backcourt. And while the current crop of guards on the roster (Coby White and Tomas Satoransky) are more than capable to play big minutes, they didn’t bring the defensive intensity needed to help cover for LaVine’s faults on that end of the floor. Ball provides this and also brings along an elite passing skillset and decent shooting ability to space the floor (averaging 5.6 assists and shooting 38.5 percent from three-point range this season).

It felt like a match made in heaven that sadly never came to fruition.

Will the Chicago Bulls regret not acquiring Lonzo Ball?

The short answer is that it’s too early to tell. While early signs point to the Bulls desperately needing some perimeter defense, they have unfortunately been matched up with teams that just so happen to have elite scorers at the guard spots.

And while if the Bulls want to make the playoffs they need to learn to handle these players, this team has barely had time to practice together, and with a little more time a lot of the schematic issues should solve themselves.

On top of this, regretting trading for Ball would be under the assumption that they can’t get him in the future. He is a free agent this summer, and while that is restricted, if the Bulls want to cough up the big bucks to him, New Orleans may feel less inclined to match.

There is a reason why they were allegedly looking to move on from him, so paying him to come back in the summer would feel a little contradictory. But for the time being, the team should focus on winning now, and things should turn out just fine.