The Chicago Bulls had multiple chances to acquire Jeremy Sochan, but they let the young wing defender slip through their fingers and sign with the New York Knicks.
Sochan and the San Antonio Spurs reached a buyout agreement on Feb. 11, which allowed the 22-year-old to hit the open market. After starting 149 games for the Spurs over his first three seasons, Sochan's numbers dipped dramatically in 2025-26. In 28 games (zero starts), he averaged just 12.8 minutes.
Once a part of San Antonio's young core, Sochan fell out of the rotation, replaced by the likes of Victor Wembanyama, Harrison Barnes and Julian Champagnie. (The team's glut of young, potential All-NBA guards also played a role.)
Sochan would've been an ideal fit in Chicago, as the Bulls are in desperate need of anyone who can play defense -- or anyone taller than 6-foot-4.
Instead, the franchise whiffed on an opportunity to add a player who could fill a role in the Windy City long term.
Bulls front office just made another inexplicable decision
To be fair, Chicago was unusually active at the trade deadline. Like wildly, unbelievably, exceptionally active.
Bulls Executive VP of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas made seven deadline-adjacent deals. He sent out six players and acquired seven new players and nine (!) second-round picks.
Whether any of those trades is enough to fix the mess of mediocrity the franchise finds itself in is questionable. And maybe acquiring Sochan wouldn't be enough to move the needle either. But it was worth the price to find out.
Landing Jeremy Sochan would've been a shrewd move for Chicago
Jaden Ivey and Rob Dillingham are the two acquisitions Karnisovas made that could stay around long-term. But Ivey will be a restricted free agent after this season, and although Sochan is approaching the same fate, Ivey will be much more expensive to re-sign.
Sochan agreed to a deal with the Knicks that will pay him the veteran's minimum, prorated for the rest of this season. Not only would that be a literal cheaper price for the Bulls to pay, but it clearly wouldn't have cost much for Chicago to trade for him before the deadline.
Seeing as the Spurs got absolutely nothing in return for the 6-foot-8 wing, one or two of the second-round picks Karnisovas landed should have presumably brought him to Chicago.
Sochan was the ninth overall pick in the 2022 draft. He averaged 11.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 53 starts as a 19-year-old rookie and upped those numbers to 11.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 73 starts in his second year.
His statistical production has dipped dramatically since then, but his upside as a multi-positional defender and smart playmaker is something the Bulls sorely lack.
Giving up next to nothing to land a player like Sochan should've been a no-brainer, especially given Chicago's mass of deadline activity. Instead, it's another move Karnisovas failed to make.