Chicago Bulls Acquire Cameron Payne for Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott in Trade with Oklahoma City Thunder
The Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder made an interesting deal on Thursday, swapping potential impact players.
The Chicago Bulls never seemed close to dealing Jimmy Butler prior to the NBA Trade Deadline, but they did make an interesting move right before the clock expired. Chicago sent Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott and a 2018 2nd Round Pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Cameron Payne, Joffery Lauvergne and Anthony Morrow.
The deal was first reported by Shams Charnia of the Vertical.
Sources: OKC and Chicago are nearing agreement on a trade to send package centered on Cameron Payne for Doug McDermott and Taj Gibson.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 23, 2017
Gibson, McDermott and Payne are the major players in this deal. It is certainly tough to see Gibson go, but he is a free agent this off season. At the Bulls were able to get something before he left on the open market. Gibson will undoubtedly step in and help the Thunder in their post-season run.
The Bulls had high hopes for McDermott, who was a sweet-shooting big man coming out of college. However, he has under-performed throughout his NBA career. McDermott has not shown any signs of hitting the potential that he seemed to have prior to entering the league.
In Payne, the Bulls land a nice, young point guard who certainly has some upside. Payne has only averaged 5.3 points and 2 assists per game for the Thunder this season, but his minutes are extremely limited playing behind Russell Westbrook.
Payne is not a strong outside shooter, which is obviously less than ideal. However, he certainly has some upside as an offensive play-maker. At only 22-years-old, the Bulls may have found a nice young asset to help build their team around.
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The young point guard is still an extreme unknown, but at least there is some upside here. There has been a lot of negative attention on the Bulls’ side of the trade. I get it. It’s not great on paper. However, it is not like they gave up significant assets in this deal. It is a low-risk move with a bit of upside.
Personally, I kind of like it.