Ranking the Chicago Bulls’ 10 most valuable trade assets
With the NBA Draft and free agency soon set to kick off, the trade market is revving its engines once again as teams look to put themselves in a position to unseat the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors. If last year is anything to go by, you can guarantee the Chicago Bulls will once again be active players in this summer’s festivities.
However, making immediate improvements will be a much more difficult task for the Bulls this summer. After trading away Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter, three first-round picks, and essentially every second-round pick for Nikola Vucevic, DeMar DeRozan, and Lonzo Ball, Chicago will have to get much more creative this time around.
That being said, this doesn’t necessarily mean the Bulls are an asset-depleted team. Chicago has added a whole host of quality players, seen clearly by the team’s marked improvement in the regular season. I believe there is now a clear hierarchy of how important each player and future draft pick is to the Bulls’ long-term future.
If the Chicago Bulls wish to continue improving via the trade market, they’ll have to make the most of their top trade assets.
10. Coby White
I believe we’ve finally reached a point where Coby White the player is better than Coby White the trade asset. Coby has supplied steady production primarily as a bench player through his three seasons in Chicago. Unfortunately, there hasn’t seemed to be much improvement in his game over that span. While his instant offense off the bench may strike a few teams as valuable, his limited growth over his career hinders his trade value as a developing prospect.
If the Bulls intend to get anything of value in return for Coby White as he finishes out his rookie deal, they’d have to convince any potential trade partner that he is not a finished product and still has room to develop.
9. Portland’s future first-round pick
The difficult thing about assessing the value of this future first-round pick is that we don’t know when Chicago will actually get to use it. Or if they will even get to use it. Lottery protected through 2028, the Bulls cannot lay claim to this pick until Portland makes the playoffs. If they don’t do so by 2028, it becomes a second-round selection instead. With Damian Lillard potentially entering a make-or-break season, this pick could rapidly deplete in value if the Trail Blazers fail to make the 2023 playoffs and trade Lillard away.
8. Alex Caruso
While seen by many to be a “meme player” of sorts during his time with the Lakers, Alex Caruso has exploded onto the scene and destroyed that notion in a short matter of time with the Bulls. Removed from the shadow of LeBron and LA sports media, Caruso’s talent as a facilitator, perimeter defender, and court general has been able to shine to its fullest extent in Chicago.
Just one year removed from signing a four-year, $37 million contract with the Bulls, Caruso is a very high-value player getting paid low-value money. Any championship-contending would be thrilled to have a guy like Caruso on their roster, which is why I do not expect him to hit the trade block any time soon.