The Chicago Bulls were roundly panned for trading Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Two months into the season, vindication belongs to the Bulls as Ball is having a horrendous start in his new home.
Chicago Bulls fans have had a lot to carry over the last few seasons, watching a franchise complacent with consistent mediocrity make move after move to ensure they win 30-40 games each season. That run isn't over, either -- they are currently on track to win 34 games and be on the outer edge of the Play-In Tournament race.
The mediocrity machine rolled on two summers ago, when the Bulls traded defensive wizard Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder, giving them the finishing touch on their championship roster. No matter how many triple-doubles Josh Giddey racks up, the Bulls will likely continue to receive flak for that move, getting back Giddey and exactly zero draft picks to hand the Thunder the perfect weapon.
It felt like more of the same this summer when the Bulls again made a player-for-player swap where they appeared to be on the losing end, trading combo guard Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers for swingman Isaac Okoro. With Okoro on a worse contract and a massive negative as a shooter, it looked like the Bulls may have given another title contender the finishing piece on a Finals run.
Instead, the Bulls look like they were right to move on from Ball, as he is playing terribly for a Cavaliers team that has struggled to start the season.
Lonzo Ball is having a rough start to the season
The fact that Lonzo Ball can play NBA basketball at all is something of a minor miracle after his debilitating sequence of injuries and long road back to health. Set into that grand scheme, any level of struggle from Ball should be expected.
Last season, however, Ball returned back to action and looked like a player who, while not returning to his previous heights, had regained his mastery of the floor game and could be a connective piece on a good team.
Under contract for this season and next for just $10 million a season, it looked like a steal when the Cavaliers traded for him. They were trying to replace both Okoro's wing defense and Ty Jerome's offensive creation in one package. They have not gotten that from Ball.
In 19 games this season, Ball is averaging a similar minutes total to last season at 23.6 minutes per game, but his impact has taken a nosedive. He is shooting a frigid 28.6 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from 3-point range; he doesn't draw free-throws, so overall he is a lead anchor on the Cavaliers' offense.
Defensively he has been fine, but his steal and block rates are down and he doesn't have the lateral quickness to lock up fast guards. He is a useful player on defense, but for his offensive struggles to be made up for, he has to be Alex Caruso on that end. That has not been the case.
There is plenty of season left for Ball to catch his groove, but the start of the season was always likely to be his best stretch before nagging injuries piled up. It is equally possible, if not more likely, that hes play and availability go down as the season progresses.
The Bulls didn't "win" this trade; Isaac Okoro has been awful for Chicago. But they made a read that Lonzo Ball's value was at its peak and that they needed to move off of him. That evaluation has brought them some vindication, a rare treat for Chicago.