3 Bulls most likely to be traded by end of 2022-23 season

2. Marko Simonovic

Although he’s just now entering his sophomore season after a very forgettable rookie campaign, the clock is already ticking for Marko Simonovic to NBA-level rotation player. Only registering 35 minutes of garbage time action last season, it’s pretty clear as to how the front office feels about Simonovic’s readiness.

It certainly doesn’t help that fellow Bulls rookie Ayo Dosunmu immediately hit the ground running, while Simonovic struggled and was isolated to the bench unit. As the Bulls continue to win more and more games, it only becomes more difficult to continue justifying using a roster spot on a project player who may not have a particularly high ceiling in the first place.

Fortunately, Simonovic is at the very least trending in the right direction. Leading the Bulls in Las Vegas, Marko averaged 15.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game en route to being named to the All-Summer League Second Team. He joins former Bulls such as Wendell Carter Jr., Bobby Portis, Jimmy Butler, and Doug McDermott with this distinction, hardly the worst group of names to be associated with.

Whether or not Marko deserves such lofty praise remains to be seen. as we’ll hopefully get to see more of the former No. 44 overall pick on the court this season. Although Javonte Green and Derrick Jones Jr. figure to be the primary reserve forwards behind Patrick Williams this season, nothing’s set in stone yet. There’s still a chance Marko could use his size to his advantage to get run time as the backup four or third-string five slots behind Andre Drummond.

If not, Simonovic is likely to find himself dangled as trade bait as a cheap team-controlled asset. Just because there’s no room for him in the Bulls’ rotation, doesn’t mean a young and developing team couldn’t use his production.