3 early trades the Bulls should make to improve on last season’s success

The Bulls bid farewell to Nikola Vucevic for an enticing package from LA

Why the Bulls would do this trade:

Okay Bulls fans, I can hear you already, “Why would we trade an all-star caliber player like Vucevic for role players?” I am asking you all to hear me out.

This trade all depends on how the Bulls start the season. If the Bulls are somehow hovering around the play-in and the defense hasn’t improved from last season, it may be time to get a haul of solid players in return for Vucevic, who could leave at the end of the season, as this is the last year of his contract before he hits unrestricted free agency.

Chicago ranked equal 23rd in defensive efficiency last season and conceded the 8th most points at the rim, in large part due to the lack of physical presence inside. Which was highlighted in the Bulls’ most recent playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Yes, Vucevic is a gifted offensive player, but with players such as DeMar DeRozan and Zach Lavine on the roster, the Bulls already have that in spades. This trade allows the Bulls to undergo a mini-reset on the season while attaining 3 solid role players, a promising young player, and hopefully some additional draft capital as well. Kennard and Coffey are both exceptional shooters with percentages of 44.9% and 37.8% respectively from downtown last season, will create spacing which the Bulls require as they ranked second-last in three-point makes last season.

Trading away Vucevic would sting, however getting depth and bench scoring, which is desperately needed, and be provided with some stability as all the players the Bulls would receive have multiple years left on their deals, would be a suitable return for a player who could leave at the end of the season anyways.

Why the Clippers would do this trade:

The Los Angeles Clippers have one, if not the, deepest team in the league. Having quality players up and down the roster means that obviously, not all of them can play and receive the minutes they believe they are entitled to. With tension already being seen in the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era of the Clippers, with players being upset how they had preferential treatment, they would not repeat of that if players aren’t playing who think they could start on other teams, aren’t playing. So the front office of the Clippers do this deal to double down on their championship window, by attaining an all-star caliber player in Vucevic, whilst sacrificing some of their depth.

With Vucevic’s deficiencies being on the defensive side of the ball, the Clippers can help hide it as last season they had the league’s 8th most efficient defense.  Furthermore, Vucevic would add a new wrinkle to the Clippers’ perimeter-heavy offense, as Vucevic had the 7th most post-ups in the association last season, whereas the highest-ranked Clipper in post-ups was, Marcus Morris Sr. at 19th most, behind players like Robin Lopez. Providing the Clippers with more offensive versatility come playoff time.