Chicago Bulls Rumors: Lonzo Ball to Chicago is all but confirmed
By Ryan Taylor
The Chicago Bulls and Lonzo Ball have agreed to an offer sheet for the energetic, playmaking point guard to become part of the starting five for the Bulls.
According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, “Miami is emerging as a favorite to land (Kyle) Lowry in a sign-and-trade while (Lonzo) Ball is ready to sign with the Bulls with free agency beginning Monday evening, according to a source.”
The question of the matter is no longer “Is Lonzo Ball a Chicago Bull?” the question has become “How is Lonzo Ball a Chicago Bull?”
There has been much speculation that the Bulls front office could get away with a sign-and-trade between Ball and Tomas Satoransky, who currently has a partial guarantee on his contract.
Lonzo Ball is ready to sign with the Chicago Bulls as soon as free agency starts, per @NYPost_Berman.
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) August 2, 2021
This would save the Bulls from having to renounce Satoransky and give them the ability to retain assets in return for him.
On top of that, this move would save the Bulls $5 million in cap space for trading him instead of letting him go in free agency.
Related Story. Chicago Bulls Rumors: Lonzo Ball, Tomas Satoransky trade possible. light
However, if the Bulls were unable to do this, they would have to eat at their cap space to take on Ball. Understanding that Ball may take close to $20 million per year, it’s already known that the Bulls have just over $24 million in cap space to play with. That’s also saying they renounce their free agents to conclude on that number.
If it’s not a sign-and-trade for Satoransky and not an offer sheet signing, what else could it be?
Truly the only other option would be a sign-and-trade with Lauri Markkanen. However, Arturas Karnisovas tried this move just before the trade deadline, but no cigar. That being said, it seems unlikely he will try his hand with this move again since it already flopped.
To rank the ideal ways of obtaining Ball, here’s how it would go.
- Sign-and-trade with Satoransky
- Sign-and-trade with Markkanen
- Free-agent signing
Considering Markkanen has drawn interest from several teams around the league, it would be well more ideal to jettison Satoransky as the piece to obtain Ball over Markkanen, to exploit Markkanen’s value elsewhere.
Chicago Bulls: What to expect on the first day of free agency. dark. Next
Stay tuned after 5 p.m. CST on Aug. 2 to see how the Bulls and Ball will link up.