Bulls Rumors: Is it wise to trade for Lonzo Ball AND DeMar DeRozan?

There really isn’t any other team that has as much going on as Chicago with all of the Bulls rumors swirling around in the day of the opening of the free agency negotiation window on Aug. 2. As potentially the team that makes some of the biggest moves in free agency this month, the Bulls are gong to have a very busy month of August.

Moreover, it was ESPN’s Brian Windhorst that set off the latest string of discussions on the Bulls rumor mill on the afternoon of Aug. 2. On ESPN’s “The Jump” early this week, Windhorst tabbed the Bulls as a team interested in trying to land two key players that are impending free agents this summer.

The first and less surprising of the two players that Windhorst reported that the Bulls are interested in this week is the New Orleans Pelicans restricted free agent point guard Lonzo Ball. All of the buzz this offseason surrounding the need for the Bulls to get help at the point guard position started, and could end with, Lonzo coming from the Pelicans.

And the other name mentioned by Windhorst on The Jump in connection with the Bulls this week is the San Antonio Spurs star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan. The four-time All-Star and 31-year-old California native DeRozan wouldn’t seemingly be the best fit with the Bulls. He would definitely add some star power to the mix, though.

Bulls rumors ramping up with the possibility of adding DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball

https://twitter.com/NBATheJump/status/1422293170872856577

Apparently, it could be in the works that the Bulls try to get both Lonzo and DeRozan by way of sign-and-trade deals this week. It’s hard to see how that will work out cap-wise, but it seemingly isn’t out of the question for executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley.

It is likely a popular opinion among Bulls fans that adding Lonzo would do a lot of good for this starting unit heading into next season. But the idea of adding DeRozan is tougher to figure out. It would also greatly limit the ability for Karnisovas and Eversley to beef up the bench this offseason for head coach Billy Donovan.

Granted, it’s hard to find a path for Karnisovas and the Bulls otherwise add as much star power as they theoretically could with a big three of DeRozan, star shooting guard Zach LaVine, and center Nikola Vucevic.

For most of the offseason thus far, it felt like it was more realistic for DeRozan to land with an immediate contender like the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, or the Phoenix Suns. Coming to Chicago might not make as much sense for him or the Bulls.

The negotiation window for this cycle of free agency officially begins on the evening of Aug. 2, specifically at 5 p.m. CT. We are drawing very close to the time where Karnisovas and the Bulls will start to publicly take the next steps in building up this roster.