The Chicago Bulls drafted two high-ceiling prospects and shrewdly acquired a starting center last week. Among the ideal next moves for executive VP of basketball operations, Bryson Graham, is facilitating a trade that would send Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics to the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Bulls can clear the way for Portland to acquire the two-time All-NBA forward by taking on Jerami Grant's contract, and for their trouble, acquire future draft picks to help push their rebuild forward.
Graham has cap space at his disposal, and there are certainly other ways to use it — Peyton Watson, anyone? — but taking on bad contracts to pave the way for other blockbuster trades is sensible team building.
Bulls can add draft picks by facilitating Jaylen Brown trade between Blazers and Celtics
Portland has been "known to covet Brown dating back to Damian Lillard's first tenure with the franchise," according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer.
"And they still do," the pair added via The Stein Line.
Boston has been open to trading the former Finals MVP, most notably dangling him in talks involving Giannis Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee ultimately traded Antetokounmpo to Miami, leaving the Celtics and Brown in an awkward position.
The Trail Blazers would love to help fix that situation, and they have the draft assets to fulfill Boston's reported asking price of four first-round picks.
They will, however, need to offload Grant's $34.2 million salary. Enter the Bulls.
Even after absorbing Nic Claxton and his $23 million deal in a three-team trade with Brooklyn and Minnesota, Chicago has more than $30 million in cap space to spend this offseason. To reach the salary floor, it must spend at least $16.5 million before the 2026-27 season begins.
Acquiring Grant's contract to close that gap and add picks would be a wise way to do it. And the Bulls could simply absorb the 32-year-old's money, just like they did Claxton's; they wouldn't need to move picks or players in any iteration of the deal.
Grant is a useful player who averaged 18.6 points while shooting 38.9 percent from 3-point range last season. Even if he doesn't fit in Chicago with the franchise focused on Caleb Wilson, Dailyn Swain and Matas Buzelis, the Bulls could flip him at some point to bring in more assets.
The Trail Blazers have plenty of picks to spare, including a 2028 first-rounder from the Orlando Magic and first-round swaps with the Bucks in 2028 and 2030. They also have eight second-rounders between now and 2032.
Trading for Brown would be a league-shattering move for Portland, but it won't happen without help. The Bulls are ideally positioned to provide that assistance and steal some draft picks along the way.
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