A perfect trade between the Chicago Bulls and Pelicans with Lonzo Ball and Lauri Markkanen
Why it makes sense for the Bulls?
To-be second-year head coach Billy Donovan needs some pieces added to the backcourt rotation to come up with a more proficient unit as a whole. This 15-man roster had a lot of wholes in it heading into the 2020-21 regular season. But now the Bulls front office and coaching staff had a full regular season slate to evaluate what player they have on hand.
And the front office apparently already had a long enough time to evaluate the roster on hand to make a plethora of big moves at the trade deadline. That included getting star center Nikola Vucevic from the Orlando Magic and two-way center Daniel Theis from the Boston Celtics, among other big moves.
At this point of the reshaping of the Bulls’ roster under the front office regime of Karnisovas and Eversley, it does feel like the frontcourt will be built in a way that doesn’t involve Markkanen. He was moved to a reserve role down the stretch this season, which hadn’t happened at any prior point of his NBA career.
The Bulls look like they will try to go all out to round out their starting unit this offseason. That involves getting a point guard capable of commanding this starting five for the foreseeable future. It is likely that someone like Lonzo could do that to a greater proficiency than both combo guard Tomas Satoransky and the currently injured White.