4 big trade targets the Bulls must avoid at the deadline

Trade deadline targets the Chicago Bulls must avoid: Tobias Harris

Now, we move on to the second player rostered with the Sixers on this list that is one the Bulls likely should avoid at the trade deadline at all costs. It doesn’t take long to realize why someone like the standout Sixers stretch-forward Tobias Harris doesn’t make much sense for the Bulls with how the roster is currently constructed.

There was a point in time where it made sense for the Bulls to add an overpaid power forward such as Harris. But those years are long gone where the Bulls should take on a bad contract and a lot of draft picks just to tank further in the Eastern Conference standings. That was the mantra the Bulls took on under the front office regime of John Paxson and Gar Forman.

The same obviously should not be said for the current Bulls’ front office regime led by executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley.

Harris is having a decent run with the Sixers in the last two seasons. But that doesn’t mean that his current contract, which pays him around $38.5 million in average annual value through the end of the 2023-24 season, is anything easy to digest for a team like the Bulls.

It looks like about the most salary the Bulls are willing to take on at the trade deadline this year to add a true stud at the four is around $20-25 million in average annual value. That is where a name like Grant from the Pistons or Barnes from the Kings makes a lot more sense for the Bulls compared to the likes of Harris.

Two potential landing spots that could be interesting to watch for Harris at the deadline, though, are with the Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers.