3 Bulls players who tanked their trade value in 2023

Cap-strapped and left with none of the rights to their own draft picks this offseason, trades are going to be one of the clearest and most direct avenues to improvement for the Chicago Bulls this summer. While the ‘Big 3’ enjoyed an exemplary season on the court and remained relatively healthy, not everyone on this roster fared so well.

As a result, other teams aren’t likely to value every Bulls player as highly as us fans and the Bulls organization itself might. That doesn’t mean it’ll be impossible for the front office to execute meaningful moves this summer, but it does present yet another obstacle for this team to overcome. Based on the performance of each individual player this season, I believe it may be a bit easier to narrow things down and focus in on who is most likely to be moved over the offseason.

Although the story is far from over for each of these players, I believe these three Bulls had their trade values most negatively affected by a lackluster 2022-23 campaign.

Considering the Bulls fell drastically short of their expectations as a team this season, it’s no surprise that several players had their stock fall off.

3. Patrick Williams

Make no mistake, Patrick Williams is certainly still a good player in the right role, particularly as a 3-and-D asset. Arguably the second-best defender on this team and hitting 41.5% of his threes this season, there’s always going to be a place for Pat in this league if he can keep this up. But when it comes to reaching that Kawhi Leonard-esque star potential many had envisioned for Williams, the third-year forward is falling short.

Young age and a perceived high ceiling have been Williams’ most virtuous traits as a prospect in his relatively short career, but with each passing year with little to no improvement, Pat’s shine as an interesting trade asset grows duller and duller. A lack of visible year-to-year development and improvement has many Bulls and general NBA fans much lower on Pat as a prospect than they were just one year ago.

Just a year ago, many were hesitant to entertain a straight-up swap of Williams for Jerami Grant. Whether or not Pat could still fetch a player of Grant’s caliber is hard to say for sure, but I’m dubious of any claims that it would be an easy deal to get done at this point. Williams will need to show out next season in the final year of his rookie deal if he wants to get paid like the player we’re all hoping he can become.

2. Ayo Dosunmu

Drafted 38th overall in 2021, Ayo Dosunmu was clearly playing with a chip on his shoulder last season. With each passing game, the former Naismith Player of the Year Finalist was granted the opportunity to make each team regret passing on him in the draft.

After getting bumped into the starting five as the full-time starting point guard, Dosunmu did the best he could to fill the void left by Ball. He averaged 11 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 52.1% from the field and 35.7% from beyond the arc in over 40 games.

For a rookie, this was quite the achievement and was enough to have Ayo be named to the All-Rookie Second Team, joining other promising prospects Josh Giddey, Herb Jones, Chris Duarte, and Bones Hyland.

There are likely fewer suitors lining up for Ayo Dosunmu after he took a step back in his sophomore season with the Bulls.

Unfortunately, Dosunmu would run headfirst into a sophomore slump this season and struggled to have a similar impact as he did as a rookie with averages of 9.2 points and 3 assists on 49.5% shooting and 30.4% from deep in 51 games as a starter. This is a common problem many young players have, but it’s clear now more than ever he has significant strides left to make, particularly as a shooter.

Ayo is set to hit restricted free agency this summer, so he’s no longer an affordable cost-controlled young asset with several years left on his deal. Dosunmu will presumably receive a fair deal on the open market, meaning barring any massive improvements, it’s less likely he’ll ever be seen as the huge ‘steal’ everyone thought he was as a rookie. His trade value simply isn’t what it once was anymore.

1. Lonzo Ball

After deciding to undergo a third knee surgery earlier this year in March, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that Lonzo Ball is expected to miss “most, if not all, of the 2023-24 season”. We’ve seen how this team has faired without their point guard for the last two years now, and I don’t expect things to get much better without him once again in 2023-24.

At this point, it’s less of a question of whether or not he’ll make a return to the Bulls, but rather if he’ll ever even be able to play basketball professionally again — regardless of whatever optimism Arturas Karnisovas may hold about the situation.

Lonzo Ball’s significant injury history may make him a virtually untradeable asset for the Bulls.

It’s impossible to say just what interest Lonzo would have drawn up on the market before this news broke, but it’s certainly enough to scare teams away now. Ball holds virtually no value as a trade asset now; even if he did make a full recovery, by that time he’ll already be a free agent again at the end of next season.

At this point in time, there’s simply no reason for any team to have any interest in Ball other than to use his contract for salary-matching purposes.

In fact, saying Lonzo holds no value may actually be doing him a favor. Set to be paid $20.5 million next year, with a player option for $21.4 million in 2024-25, Ball is actually actively hurting this team and is a net negative when it comes to helping this team win games. With so much money tied up in paying a player to rehabilitate his injuries, the odds are already against the Bulls as they try to field a competitive roster.