When news broke that the Denver Nuggets were interested in trading for Zach LaVine—a player the Bulls haven't been able to get rid of regardless of how hard they've tried—it was easy to look at it from Chicago's perspective immediately.
Finally, there was a team willing to take an expensive, injury-prone player; but also one having a resurgent, All-Star caliber season who would be an excellent fit as a wing scorer and playmaker next to Nikola Jokic.
For any deal to work financially, though, the Nuggets would need to include Michael Porter Jr., who has become an organizational favorite and one of Denver's pillars along with Jokic and Jamal Murray.
Publicly, the Nuggets have said they're not trading their 26-year-old forward. The business side of the NBA often wins out, however, and Porter Jr. is well aware of it based on his recent comments.
Michael Porter Jr. gets brutally honest about potential Bulls trade
The basic framework of a LaVine-to-Denver deal involves a swap of LaVine and Porter Jr. Chicago is reportedly haggling over taking back Zeke Nnaji and his four-year, $32 million deal.
Nnaji hasn't been productive this season for the Nuggets, but a 23-year-old big man on a relatively cheap contract playing for a rebuilding Bulls team is a different scenario. It shouldn't be a major sticking point for Chicago if that's ultimately what holds up a trade.
The more significant issue, though, could be Denver's reported hesitance to part with Porter Jr.
But the (sort of) Missouri alum seems to be quite aware of how things can change in the NBA, as he said via DNVRNuggets Twitter:
""They've reached out to me and said it's all noise. There's nothing serious going on.Michael Porter Jr. on trade rumors
"They have no desire to move me right now. But I also know they wouldn't tell me if they wanted to move me.""
Quite blunt and honest from one of Denver's foundational pieces.
Also lost in the LaVine part of the deal is that Porter Jr. is having a fantastic season of his own.
The 6-foot-10 sharpshooter is averaging 18.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and a career-high 2.8 assists through 28 games. He's shooting 51.7 percent from the field on a career-high 13.8 attempts and is knocking down 38.7 percent of his 6.0 threes per game.
Porter Jr. would give the Bulls a different dynamic with his size but would still serve as a floor spacer and 3-point threat. He may not be the athlete or pure scorer that LaVine is, but he's arguably a better fit for Chicago.