Another pick makes it easier to trade Zach LaVine
The Chicago Bulls and Zach LaVine want to part ways and that seems mutual.
But the Bulls are going to have a hard time finding a taker for that contract unless they attach some kind of asset or basically give him away for nothing.
Having an extra pick in the first round might have made that task easier, as a team like the Pistons might be willing to move off their top-5 pick if they were getting a later pick and LaVine in return.
The Bulls could now have the 5th and 10th picks in this draft and an extra $44 million in cap space to throw around, which is a haul they could reset with.
Instead, they did nothing and are now heading into the offseason with few ways to improve, only one draft pick to work with and pending free agents whose futures are unclear.
They took a gamble just to come up short anyway and it cost them the chance for the reboot fans have been hoping for.