The Chicago Bulls traded Lonzo Ball for Isaac Okoro this offseason for a few reasons. Firstly, they wanted to add some ball-stopping on the wings, and Okoro provides that. Plus, with Josh Giddey taking over as the primary ballhandler, there didn't appear to be much opportunity for Ball in the Bulls' rotation anymore, so they sent him to Ohio.
So far this year, Okoro has been inconsistent, and Ball seems to be fitting in well in Cleveland; on its face, it might not look like a win for the Bulls. But if nothing else, it's opened up chances for Tre Jones, Ayo Dosunmu, and the rest of the multi-headed Bulls backcourt. And all of those guys have been good, so in a roundabout way, it might be a win. Just how the Bulls drew it up, I guess?
Hey, like I always say, a happy accident is far better than an unhappy intentional decision. I do always say that, for the record.
Chicago Bulls have a solid committee of guards in the backcourt
Tre Jones was not the headliner in February's trade that sent De'Aaron Fox to the Spurs and Zach LaVine to the Kings, but he immediately looked like a good addition for the Bulls at the backhalf of last season, averaging 11.5 points and 4.9 assists in 18 games.
He started 2025-26 even more impressively, averaging 13 points, over 5 assists, and over two steals per game in nearly 30 minutes per game while starting in the Bulls backcourt. Jones fell out of favor in San Antonio when the Spurs added like nine other point guards, but he's been a very good player for a few years. He'll have the biggest chance of his career with the Bulls.
Ayo Dosunmu, Tre Jones have both impressed for Bulls
Then there's Ayo Dosunmu, who has fully embraced his Sixth Man role and is thriving off the bench, shooting the ball better than he ever has and providing the bench with some firepower.
Jevon Carter, meanwhile, is now in his third year with the team and was a key part of the Bulls' impressive win against the Nuggets this week while Jones and Coby White were both sidelined. He's the definition of a team-first guy, and having an end-of-bench player who can come in cold and change a game is such a valuable asset.
In other words, it's backcourt by committee in Chicago, and every member of that committee has played their part. I don't want to imply that Lonzo Ball wouldn't also fit this backcourt well, but if the Bulls are going to find success this year, they'll need to keep experimenting, and so far, the experimentation has yielded some positive results. I'm not sure this was the intended outcome of the trade, but... A win is a win this season!