Based on sheer activity, the Chicago Bulls were one of the most surprising teams of this year's NBA trade deadline. But most importantly, they're now stacked with draft assets that will be invaluable to the next "stage" of the franchise.
Bulls Executive VP of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas won't call this a rebuild, as Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic points out (subscription required), but that's effectively what he accomplished over the last few days. He traded away four of the team's top six scorers in Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and Kevin Huerter. Jevon Carter is gone, as are Dalen Terry, Julian Phillips and Emmanuel Miller.
Chicago brought in Anfernee Simons, Jaden Ivey, Rob Dillingham, Nick Richards, Collin Sexton, Guerschon Yabusele and Leonard Miller.
But it was the horde of second-round picks Karnisovas acquired in several of those deals that are being egregiously overlooked.
Bulls' best moves of the trade deadline are being ignored
Ivey will almost certainly stay in the Windy City past this season. Simons and Yabusele could be worth keeping around at the right price as both are unrestricted free agents. Dillingham is a former top-10 pick who deserves another opportunity after flaming out in Minnesota.
Along with Dillingham and Miller, the Bulls acquired four second-round picks from the Timberwolves in the Dosunmu deal.
They got three seconds in the trade that sent White to the Charlotte Hornets. They swapped second-rounders with the Boston Celtics in the Vucevic-Simons trade and got another pair for helping the Cleveland Cavaliers land Keon Ellis and Denis Schroder from the Sacramento Kings.
A quick aside -- the pick Chicago got from Boston comes via the New Orleans Pelicans and, if the season ended today, would be the 32nd overall selection in a deeply talented draft class.
After the buzzer sounded on a wild trade deadline, the Bulls' list of second-round picks looks like this:
- 2026 (most favorable of MIN/NYK/NOP/POR)
- 2027 (least favorable of DEN/GSW)
- 2027 (CLE)
- 2028 (own)
- 2029 (own)
- 2029 (least favorable of DET/MIL/MIN)
- 2029 (least favorable of DEN/CHA)
- 2030 (own)
- 2031 (own)
- 2031 (DEN)
- 2031 (MIL)
- 2031 (Most favorable of MIN/GSW)
- 2032 (own)
- 2032 (Most favorable of HOU/PHO)
This second-round pick stash gives the Bulls flexibility
They'll never replace lottery picks as the most valuable assets an NBA team can carry, but second-round picks have increased in worth under the new CBA. Teams can acquire players on inexpensive, long-term contracts without impacting the tight salary cap the way first-round selections do.
And as Chicago proved, tossing a handful of them into a trade to sweeten the pot can make a difference. With a stacked restricted free agency class this summer, they could also play a role in sign-and-trade deals.
No, the Bulls didn't completely lean into a rebuild and embrace the tank. And Karnisovas didn't get what he should have after refusing to deal White, Dosunmu and Vucevic at their peak values. It's absolutely fair -- and correct -- to criticize him.
But the deadline wasn't a complete failure. There are still assets Chicago can use to build its next foundation, even if they're being overlooked.