Bulls: 5 ideal Coby White trade targets to balance the roster
4. Brandon Clarke
We continue on and take a look at a player who would have been ranked much higher in terms of ideal trade targets, had Memphis Grizzlies’ star big man Jaren Jackson Jr. not suffered a stress fracture in his foot. We can instead expect to see Brandon Clarke step up and provide valuable minutes while JJJ recovers from surgery.
That doesn’t mean I don’t think the Bulls should stop pursuing Clarke, however, as he is one of the best possible fits Chicago could swing a trade for. Clarke is an unreal athlete with defensive upside both on the perimeter and interior. Standing at 6’8, he has the size and agility to play a crucial role that no one else on the Bulls currently can.
Clarke is also a ridiculously productive rebounder and efficient pick-and-roll threat. His up-tempo style of play would mesh with these Bulls just as well as it has alongside superstar point guard Ja Morant. At worst, Clarke would be an enormous upgrade to the Bulls’ bench. At best, he could very well challenge Patrick Williams for the role of starting power forward.
You might be asking, “If Brandon Clarke is this good, why would the Grizzlies even trade him?”
That’s a fair question. For all of his strengths, Clarke’s offensive game is still very unpolished and his shooting stroke is downright awful. He’s not a player who’s going to be jacking up threes and spacing the floor, two traits most teams want from their forwards in today’s NBA. However, I think this Bulls team can compensate for Clarke’s weaknesses, seeing as how they’re loaded up on dynamic shot creators.
Clarke is also due for a payday at the end of the year, one the Grizzlies are very unlikely to be able to afford with Ja Morant’s max extension kicking in. Seeing as how they also expended two first-round draft picks in promising power forwards Jake LaRavia and David Roddy, it seems the Grizzlies are preparing for the inevitable departure of Clarke anyways.
Memphis is currently set to have John Konchar be their backup two-guard next season. Coby may have his flaws, but he’s still a massive improvement over Konchar. Exchanging Coby for Clarke would be a mutually beneficial move that addresses a need for both teams, and allows the Grizzlies to test out their new batch of rookie talent until Jaren returns.