Sell, sell, sell. It's what the Chicago Bulls have prioritized for the past few years. Not only ticket sales, while the Bulls have aimlessly competed for a playoff spot despite rostering a mediocre team, Artūras Karnišovas, and the Chicago Front Office have solidified themselves as sellers on the trade market.
The Bulls have dangled several players, including leading scorers Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, for well over a year on the trade market. Simultaneously, Chicago listened to offers, for now, ex-Bulls Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan before ultimately sending both players elsewhere during the last offseason.
De'Aaron Fox has been made available ahead of the trade deadline
Chicago still rosters LaVine and Vucevic, although both players could be traded over the next week. However, an opportunistic approach may be in the Bulls' best interest. On January 28, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Sacramento Kings star guard De'Aaron Fox has hit the trade market. This comes as a surprise following the Kings' success post-Mike Brown.
JUST IN: The Sacramento Kings are expected to open up talks to potentially deal All-Star De'Aaron Fox ahead of Feb. 6 trade deadline, sources tell ESPN. There will be plenty of suitors, but it's believed that Fox has a target destination in mind ahead of 2026 free agency. pic.twitter.com/Oh3fXgZjm3
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 28, 2025
With the 27-year-old guard on the trade block, several teams will come knocking; there's no doubt about it. The San Antonio Spurs have been brought up as a primary suitor. The up-and-coming squad is reportedly Fox's preferred landing spot. Then again, this is the NBA, every rumor is to be taken with a grain of salt.
Sure, San Antonio makes sense, but at the end of the day, it's about which rival offers the most complete trade package to Sacramento. The Bulls aren't necessarily brimming with sought-after talent or draft capital. Nevertheless, Chicago is capable of offering a better package than most squads.
Chicago's avenue to acquiring Fox is relatively straightforward
The Bulls own five tradable first and second-round picks. Plus, the Bulls roster players earning a wide range of salaries. LaVine earns the most, at $43 million, followed by Lonzo Ball and Vucevic, both around $20. Aside from the top-three earners, Chicago rosters two players in the $12-18 million range, and the rest fall below the $10 million line, including a valuable asset on a team-friendly deal—Ayo Dosunmu.
Again, it all falls on the Kings and, to an extent, Fox, but Chicago does have the assets and salary cap flexibility to get a deal done. For instance, the Bulls could send Ball, White, and rookie lottery pick Matas Buzelis, accompanied by a bevy of draft picks, to acquire Fox. Buzelis was recently referred to as "not…completely untouchable" by Chicago Sun-Times Joe Cowley. However, it must be prefaced that Cowley mentioned the rookie as one of the least likely players Karnišovas would include in a trade.
A package revolving around White isn't awe-inspiring, especially considering the player on the other end of the trade—Fox. However, Buzelis and future draft capital may be enough to get the Kings to bite. Let's take a look back at a Fox-adjacent trade. The Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers' swap of the more-accomplished Donovan Mitchell for Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, then-rookie Ochai Agbaji, and three unprotected first-rounders with two pick swaps to boot.
The Jazz sent a three-time All-Star who had just averaged 25.9 points for Markkanen, a compelling yet underachieving former lottery pick; Sexton, a player who had appeared in only 11 games the year prior; and Agbaji, a 22-year-old, 14th-overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Reverting to a potential Bulls trade. Chicago could include White (Markkanen, although White is better than Markkanen was at this juncture), Ball (Sexton, similar value, vastly different point production), and Buzelis (a higher-ceiling, younger version of Agbaji). Last but not least, including two future first-rounders and subsequent pick swaps would finalize this hypothetical. Of course, the Bulls could always throw in Dalen Terry or Julian Phillips as a sweetener (instead of a third unprotected first-rounder). The Kings would only have to attach about $4 million (two minimum-level contracts) alongside Fox if Terry of Phillips were added to this trade.
Fox's fit in Chicago is ideal
Now that the hypotheticals have concluded, another looming question exists. Does Chicago even make sense as a possible destination for Fox? In short, yes. First and foremost, Fox's style of play fits that of Billy Donovan's. The Bulls play at the third-fastest pace in the association. The 27-year-old guard has ranked top-10 in fast-break possessions for five consecutive seasons. Nonetheless, Fox's points per fast-break possessions have dwindled to 0.94 (18th percentile) this season. His Chicago counterpart, White, averages 1.23 points per fast-break possession, ranking in the 75th percentile.
In addition to Chicago's frenetic pace, the Bulls would offer more of an on-ball role than Sacramento currently does. Don't get it twisted; Fox is one of the more ball-dominant players in the NBA. However, his usage rate is the lowest since his sophomore season after the Kings acquired DeRozan this past offseason. Moreover, Sacramento isn't generating as many pick-and-roll possessions for Fox as in years past. Despite the dip in pick-and-roll handler possessions, Fox is generating more points per possession than just about any player in the NBA—1.09, 95th percentile.
Chicago would pair Fox with his own less ball-dominant, spot-up shooting-focused Domantas Sabonis in Vucevic. Besides Vooch, LaVine would flank Fox to form one of the better offensive tandems in the NBA. The 29-year-old would be one of the better shooters Fox had ever played with. The athletic swingman is shooting 43.5 percent on 2.7 catch-and-shoot three-pointers per contest. The athleticism and shotmaking between Fox and LaVine are unmatched.
Finally, the Fox-to-Chicago theory makes sense in the long run. The Bulls have been stuck in purgatory for a prolonged amount of time. Acquiring Fox moves the needle in a myriad of ways. The Bulls are in need of a talent infusion yet remain within striking distance of a guaranteed playoff seed. Adding Fox to a decent core may be just enough to elevate Chicago's chances of breaking into the Eastern Conference's elite teams without having to start over from scratch (something the Bulls' Front Office has been hesitant to do)