Pros and cons of trading Alex Caruso
Firstly, this might be a pipe dream, as Alex Caruso on a one-year deal is probably not worth the first pick in the draft, but given this is a 3-team deal, you have to look at the totality of Atlanta’s haul. They are still picking in the top-10 and getting an All-Defensive player who complements Young. But the Bulls may have to kick in another asset of their own.
The cons for the Bulls are obvious. Caruso is a valuable player, and this is a weak draft. There is no chance this would even be a consideration in any of the recent drafts, as you could get a much bigger chest of assets for the #1 pick.
The Bulls could just extend Caruso to a four-year deal, and he helps them more right now, especially if they are going to try and take advantage of the DeMar DeRozan window.
The pros are that the Bulls could nab their big man of the future in Alex Sarr, a dynamic rim protector or one of the two-way wings. It would allow them to use Caruso’s expiring contract to get two shots in this draft instead of one.
Getting Sarr and a player like Ron Holland, Cody Williams, Dalton Knecht etc. with the 11th pick would give the Bulls an injection of young talent that they desperately need.
And they’d be doing it without completely blowing up the roster, so they could theoretically still compete next season with one eye on the future.
This is likely the best-case scenario if the Bulls were to move Caruso, and if they don’t think an extension is coming, it may be their best chance to cash in.