New Alex Caruso Trade Details Highlight Bulls' Embarrassing Delusion

The Chicago Bulls made the shocking trade to send Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Josh Giddey on Thursday. At first glance, this was a long time coming. The Bulls had to move on from Caruso, who was entering the final year of his contract as a 30-year-old. He arguably had more trade value than any member of the Chicago Bulls. Considering how far the Bulls have been from contending, trading Caruso for assets made plenty of sense.

What didn't make sense, however, was moving him straight up for Josh Giddey. The latest reporting from Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reveals why.

"The Bulls engaged several teams over the past 18 months that were willing to sacrifice first-round draft capital for Caruso, sources said, while Chicago characteristically pushed for unprotected picks and as many as four firsts in some of those conversations. Chicago also refused to include Caruso in deals that would have offloaded Zach LaVine. "

- Jake Fischer, Yahoo Sports

The Bulls reportedly refused to include Caruso in deals that would have offloaded Zach LaVine's albatross of a contract. They also turned down offers that would have brought in first-round picks for Caruso. They thought Caruso had enough trade value to warrant four first-rounders.

Yet, they believe in Giddey enough to take that deal over packages that involved multiple first-round picks.

The most generous interpretation of this is that the Bulls front office grossly overrates Josh Giddey. The most plausible explanation, however, is that they are wildly incompetent.

Giddey has been exposed significantly during OKC's playoff run. He lost his rotation minutes due to his inability to defend, shoot, and finish. He is a very good passer and a transition player but that is about it.

Not only were the Bulls too late to trade Caruso as they arguably would have gotten more if they moved him at the deadline since the team acquiring him would have had him for two playoff runs, but they also moved him for the wrong package.

The Bulls are nowhere near contending so they need as much draft capital as possible to have as many lottery tickets to finding a star. Yet, once again, the Bulls front office completely misread the situation and made an unforgivable mistake.

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