Chicago Bulls reportedly acquire Quincy Pondexter in trade with Pelicans
The Chicago Bulls reportedly made an interesting trade on Thursday, acquiring Quincy Pondexter from the New Orleans Pelicans.
According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, the Chicago Bulls and the New Orleans Pelicans are close to a deal sending forward Quincy Pondexter to Chicago. In exchange, the Bulls will reportedly send a second-round pick to New Orleans.
Post updated with more information below.
Pondexter is a 6-foot-7 forward who missed the entire 2016/17 season with a knee injury. It is currently unknown how much Pondexter will be ready to play during the upcoming season.
Overall, Pondexter is a relatively interesting player. He is a good perimeter defender who uses his long arms extremely well. On the offensive end of the court, Pondexter is a solid outside shooter, hitting 36.5% of his career 3-point shots.
Pondexter last played during the 2015/16 season, when shot an impressive 43.3% from 3-point range in 45 games with the Pelicans. That season, Pondexter scored a career-high nine points per game and pulled down 3.1 rebounds per game, which was also a career high.
The 29-year-old Pondexter is only under contract for the upcoming season at a reasonable $3.8 million.
Pondexter is not a bad player. Considering the current state of the Chicago Bulls roster, he could start at the three this season. However, I really don’t understand why the Bulls are making this trade.
They are clearly in a rebuilding situation and Pondexter does not have a lot of long-term value. I mean, he is a career role player who has primarily come off of the bench and is only under contract for one season. Even if the second-round pick heading to New Orleans is not for a few years, I cannot imagine that I am going to like this deal much.
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Instead of trading draft pick value for a guy like Pondexter, the Chicago Bulls should be making all of their moves with the future in mind. They claim that they are all in on the rebuild, but if that is the case, a trade like this does not make any sense.
Update
Actually, the Chicago Bulls are bringing in a second-round pick for acquiring Pondexter. Basically, it appears that the Pelicans did not want Pondexter so the Bulls brought him in and landed a second-round pick for their troubles. If that’s the case, I actually like this move a lot.