Bulls Are Reportedly Open for Business, But Are They Being Too Picky? – Bleacher Nation

The Chicago Bulls are running less of a garage sale and more of an estate sale. While nearly everything in the house appears to be on the market, the front office has its price. How much their entertaining hagglers remains unclear, which is likely why Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer chose not to include them in his list of expected sellers at this year’s trade deadline.

The NBA Insider named organizations like the Hornets, Jazz, and Nets as those ready to offload talent. As for the Bulls, he said the league is waiting to see how all-in they will go toward a rebuild over the next handful of weeks.

“You’re really waiting to see if the Chicagos of the world fully press the trigger button and sell down the roster … The Bulls are open for business. They’re down 12-15 right now, they got Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. You go down the roster, there are the Torrey Craigs and the Jevon Carters. There are plenty of players who could be helpful in a contending situation.” 

On the one hand, the decision sure feels like it should be an obvious one for the Arturas Karnisovas and Company. The Bulls will lose their 2025 first-round pick if it ends up outside the top 10, which is the unfortunate position they currently find themselves in. One can easily argue that keeping this pick should be what matters most for a roster that desperately needs high-upside talent and moved on from two of their best win-now pieces this offseason.

On the other hand, should the Bulls really sell All-Star-caliber talent for pennies on the dollar? Both Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic have reminded everyone what they are capable of to begin the year. They are performing like two of the NBA’s most efficient high-volume scorers, each averaging 20+ points per game on 50+ percent shooting from the field and 44+ percent shooting from downtown. Players who perform at that level typically net a profitable return.

But, unfortunately, context matters! Teams are well aware of the tricky situation the Bulls are in. They know the front office has been scouring the market for deals over the last year-plus. They also know that neither player is on a particularly attractive contract, especially Zach LaVine. This is why Chicago isn’t necessarily in a position to be picky, even if it currently sounds like they are trying to be.

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported this week that the Bulls do not want to accept veteran contracts that stretch past this season in any trade return UNLESS draft compensation is included. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network also shared a similar and more specific report regarding the Bulls’ recent connection to the Denver Nuggets. While accepting Michael Porter Jr. and Zeke Nnaji in a trade for LaVine would make the finances work, the Bulls do not want to eat Nnaji’s four-year, $32.0 million deal signed this offseason.

Look, this is an entirely understandable and normally savvy approach. Why would the Bulls give up the best player in the trade and accept a team’s unwanted contract? They should be further incentivized to do someone doing their dirty laundry! At the same time, the Bulls may have no choice, as they only have themselves to blame for ending up in this position. If they finally want to get out of the middle and pick a direction, a few tough pills may have to be swallowed.

I’m not saying they should accept any offer that comes across their desk right now. It’s always important to play some hardball, especially this far out from the deadline. Still, they can’t trick themselves into thinking they have more leverage than they really do. The last thing the Bulls want is to miss out AGAIN on getting a deal done because they are overvaluing their assets.

Indeed, we already heard earlier this month that Chicago is reportedly asking for too much in trade talks. Add in these reports about their unwillingness to eat dead money, and there is no wonder we’ve heard very few rumors. Could this trend lead to another quiet deadline? Let’s hope not.