Chicago Bulls speculative trades with OKC for Shai-Gilgeous Alexander
If the Thunder were truly desperate to trade SGA this offseason, then this might be the type of deal they would be looking for. Considering that Sam Presti has become the official draft pick collector of the NBA in the past few years, getting more from the Bulls likely would get some level of appeal out of him this summer.
It’s hard to see any type of deal that could even be hypothetically pitched between the Bulls and Thunder that wouldn’t involve younger players on the move, such as second-year point guard Coby White and/or fourth-year power forward Lauri Markkanen. In this case, the Bulls would be sending Markkanen off to the Thunder as part of a sign-and-trade deal.
Markkanen is an impending restricted free agent this summer, but landing him would still bring a good amount of value to the table for the Thunder.
The Thunder could still get a nice haul of player and draft assets in return for SGA in this hypothetical trade deal. They get two more future first-round draft picks from the Bulls (one of them full-on lottery protected). But if the Bulls are landing SGA from the Thunder, they’re likely going to be good for quite a while.
What also could pan out for the Bulls in this sense is that they could have a core that a ton of other players around the NBA would be willing to sign with for a bargain deal with SGA in the mix.
There should be enough here to get the Thunder to the discussion table, but sealing it might take more pieces going to OKC.