Bulls Insider Doesn’t Expect ‘Major Change’ to Happen at NBA Trade Deadline | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
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Despite their continued struggles on the field this season, the Chicago Bulls are unlikely to be a big factor before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.
On the latest episode of The Hoop Collective podcast (starts at 9:15 p.m.), ESPN’s Jamal Collier noted that he doesn’t expect a “major change” to shake up the Bulls’ roster at this time.
The Bulls are in a tricky position heading into the trade deadline. They tried to revive it with the group that made the playoffs last season, including signing Zach LaVine to a five-year, $215 million deal in July.
It seemed like a good process at the time because the Bulls expected to get Lonzo Ball back after missing the final three months last season with a torn meniscus. They were 27-13 before the injury but finished 19-23 after his crash.
Ball underwent second knee surgery in September which kept him out of the field. Head coach Billy Donovan told reporters this week the 25-year-old was “far from playing” and could miss the whole season.
Nikola Vučević is the only key player on the Bulls’ roster who can become a free agent this offseason. Ball, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Alex Caruso and Patrick Williams are under contract for next season.
Caruso would be an attractive trade candidate for competing teams because he’s an effective scorer and plays defense, but NBA insider Marc Stein noted that Chicago is looking for two first-round picks for him.
Another problem for the Bulls is that they risk giving up a very valuable 2023 draft pick to the Orlando Magic resulting from the March 2021 trade for Vučević. The pick is passed to Orlando if it is outside the top four.
After their 108-103 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, the Bulls fell to 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 23-27 record. They are only a few percentage points behind the Indiana Pacers (24-28) for the last place in the qualifying tournament.