Bad contract trades the Chicago Bulls should pursue to add long-term assets

It is time for the Chicago Bulls to get creative with their cap space in order to help gain assets for their rebuild. Here are three trade scenarios that they should pursue.

The Chicago Bulls are clearly in the mix of a rebuild. While they did not get great value in the Jimmy Butler trade, the trio of Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen at least gives them some young talent to build their future around.

Right now, the Bulls need to be in asset building mode. Their front office needs to do everything that they can to prop up their current young assets and add as many long-term pieces as possible.

Gar Forman and John Paxson have done a nice job of not going crazy in free agency this offseason. That leaves them with quite a bit of cap space remaining. In fact, according to Spotrac, the Bulls have over $26 million in “practical cap space”, which is the most in the entire NBA. Instead of simply re-signing Nikola Mirotic and rolling over the rest of their cap space, the Bulls should use that space to land long-term assets.

I like the idea of sending an offer sheet to 23-year-old big man Nerlens Noel. However, as a restricted free agent, the Dallas Mavericks are likely going to match any offer sent Noel’s way. Signing 24-year-old guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope would also make some sense at the right price, but there is another way the Bulls could use their cap space to acquire assets.

Let’s get creative

Instead of simply signing free agents, the Bulls could take note of what the Brooklyn Nets are doing and take on bad contracts in exchange for long-term assets. In a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Nets took on Timofey Mozgov’s terrible contract and were able to get 2015 second overall pick De’Angelo Russell for their trouble. They also took on DeMarre Carroll’s bad contract from the Toronto Raptors in exchange for two 2018 draft picks.

The Nets had the cap space to work with and instead of blowing it on a free agent or two, they used it to bring in many assets for their rebuild. These were two smart moves by the Nets and I think the Bulls should follow suit.

They already lost two opportunities when the Nets traded for Mozgov and Carroll, but there are many similar situations across the league that they should try to take advantage of.

Here are three trades that the Chicago Bulls could make exchanging their cap space for long-term assets.

All proposed trades have been run through and approved by the NBA Trade Machine.