Chicago Bulls show, even when rebuilding, they still have no plan
The Chicago Bulls undermined their own efforts to rebuild with a puzzling decision in the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft.
By trading Jimmy Butler last night and establishing a new young core of players, the Chicago Bulls officially kicked off their rebuilding process for the future. In addition to swapping the seventh and 16th picks, the Bulls received point guard Kris Dunn and injured shooting guard Zach LaVine in exchange. Then, Chicago took sweet-shooting big man Lauri Markkanen (Arizona) with their newly acquired pick. For a moment, amid some trepidation, there was optimism.
Then, by the end of the night, they had apparently forgotten where they were and what they were doing.
Already under fire for relinquishing the 16th pick in the Butler trade, the Bulls then sent away their second-round draft pick to the Golden State Warriors for $3.5 million in cash. If Bulls fans weren’t angry and confused by then, they made up for lost time immediately.
On one hand, if you look hard at the situation, there was logic in swapping Butler and their lower pick essentially for two young players and a shot at a lottery pick. But that’s about where reason went out the window. Let’s break down last night’s events, starting with:
Who Won the Trade?
Just measuring in the short term, the Wolves certainly win this trade because of Butler’s current stardom. He has elevated himself at least in the top-15 category among players league-wide. Especially for a team needing a veteran presence among its young talent, Butler fits in perfectly.
However, just because it looks like the Bulls got killed in the trade now doesn’t mean it can’t look favorable later.
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Though Dunn’s 2016-17 numbers won’t wow anyone, remember who he was playing for as a rookie In his rookie season in Chicago, Butler only averaged 2.6 points on 40.5% shooting (18.2% from three), 0.3 assists, and 0.8 rebounds per game under Thibodeau. He turned out just fine. LaVine averaged 19 points a game in the fabled Western Conference last year at just 21 years old. As more of a primary option, could he thrive the way someone like James Harden did? Who knows? It sure sounds like he’s ready to find out.
And in dealing for Markkanen, the Bulls arguably aimed for quality over quantity in regard to their first round picks. Chicago certainly tried to trade for the ‘Wolves’ 2018 first-round pick but couldn’t get it and were forced to sell low on Butler.
At the same time, if Markkanen has a Kristaps Porzingis-type impact, who cares if they gave up the 16th-overall pick? Yes, in a rebuild, you want more bites at the apple to acquire talent. That said, the Bulls acquired two young players—one of which is already bordering on stardom—and a lottery pick with which to build around for the foreseeable future. That’s not all that bad for Butler and a pick that may or may not have ever been good.
What Were They Thinking with Jordan Bell?!?
The truly bad part, however, hadn’t happened yet, as we soon discovered.
That came when the Bulls sold the rights to the 38th-overall pick to the defending champion Warriors, who selected Oregon’s Jordan Bell, for $3.5 million.
Because potential first-round frontcourt talents that slip to the second round grow on trees, right?
More so than with the Butler trade, Chicago Bulls fans absolutely have a right to wonder what the organization’s move is here. This wasn’t like swapping draft picks and two young guys for Butler when you wanted more. This was giving away a potentially useful player for no reason at all.
What could the Bulls do with $3.5 million that’s going to help them restock this bad roster with young talent?
Use the money to buy out Rajon Rondo or Dwyane Wade? If the Bulls gave away a draft pick to buy out Rondo, they deserve every piece of ridicule they get from here on. Fork up the $3 million needed to buy out Rondo or pony up what you’ve got to for Wade, since you gave them those options in the first place. Don’t play games with your future.
Save for a big-name free agent? When you just started rebuilding, the chance that a top free agent will come to your team drops pretty significantly, especially if those players want to contend for a title. Also, stop thinking about competing and think about establishing your young core. Priorities, guys.
Long story short: there’s nothing they can do with that money that makes them a better team than if they’d drafted Bell themselves. Plus, why do you want to help the Warriors add ANOTHER quality player? Things we’ll never know the answer to, I suppose.
The Outlook
In the aftermath of the trade, I ultimately came away slightly positive about the Chicago Bulls’ attempt to start rebuilding. Was it a perfect trade? Absolutely not. Missing that 16th pick does hurt. However, they did accomplish the goal of ostensibly creating a new core in one night. That’s not insignificant.
Next: Chicago Bulls embarrass themselves with Jordan Bell trade
But their trade of Bell made no sense in any reality, and that’s the part that should concern fans. A team that starts a rebuild by giving away players sure looks like it doesn’t know what it’s doing. One can only hope that we’re wrong. But right now, Bulls look like they’re lost even now that they’ve picked a direction.