Chicago Bulls: Pre-NBA Draft offseason primer, hype manual

There was some serious Zach LaVine circulated trade discussion on Twitter last week.

Zach Lowe of ESPN inadvertently started something of a ruckus last week when he postulated the idea that LaVine could be used as a piece in a deal to facilitate Anthony Davis to the Lakers (which happened a couple of days ago in case you live under a rock). The return would be something like the Bulls getting Lonzo Ball and the fourth pick and the Pelicans got LaVine and the seventh pick.

At that point, the Bulls probably draft Culver and send out a lineup of Ball, Culver, Porter, Lauri, and Carter. Honestly, I wouldn’t have hated that because you have more defense and you can feature Lauri and Carter more. Obviously, Bulls Twitter did not like that idea and celebrated accordingly when the Davis deal went down with Chicago uninvited to the party.

I really like LaVine and I put my foot in my mouth when I didn’t like the offer sheet the Kings signed him to last summer. Even with all of his defensive issues, his offensive skill set might have made him worth the $78 million. With the salary cap rising every year, he could even over-perform it. However, should a trade offer come around that involves LaVine and procuring a ton of draft capital, I really think that instead of being uncreative, GarPax need to let it marinate as opposed to playing it safe.

Think about what the Raptors did the last offseason to get Leonard; they won their first championship. Think about what the Lakers finally pulled off in landing Davis. The Western Conference is wide open and they should have a ton of cap space available. Even though the Bulls aren’t even sniffing the playoffs or having championship aspirations anytime soon, sometimes it’s the big trades that get you where you need to be.

No matter how long you wait (Cc: the Philadelphia Sixers).

And that concludes my TED Talk. Try to enjoy what will be a crazy and no doubt chaotic NBA offseason.