Late Monday evening, the Chicago Bulls agreed to deal Luol Deng to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for the Sacramento Kings 2014 first round pick (top 12 protected), and the Blazers 2015-2016 second round picks, and Andrew Bynum.
As expected, the Bulls waived Bynum a few hours later.
Why? To save cap room. According to John Paxton, they will save 20.3 million dollars with this deal. What will they use this cap room for? To sign All-Star small forward Carmelo Anthony in the offseason I expect.
Anthony has publicly said he wants to be a Bull, and is not interested in renewing his contract with the Knicks. However, he will probably want more towards $23 million. So the Bulls will most likely trade or dump Taj Gibson and Mike Dunleavy. In addition, they will amnesty Carlos Boozer from what I see.
If this holds true, this would not even be the end of it. Now the Bulls, who have now committed to tanking will have a top-10 pick this year, and Charlotte’s first round pick (top-10 protected).
However, Charlotte is the 15th worst in NBA, so the chances they get a top-10 pick are small.
So how do the Bulls get Parker?
In two ways. Obviously, they could win the lottery and get the 1-1. Or, they can trade all of these draft picks. A general manager would be foolish to decline a top 10 pick, the 15th overall pick, the Bulls current second round selection, and the 2015-2016 Blazers second rounder. If they do decline, the Bulls could throw in Sacramento’s future first round pick. That’s essentially six picks for one. Any NBA general manager who declines such an offer would be straight up foolish.
Hence, Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Carmelo Anthony, Jabari Parker, and Joakim Noah. Again, nothing is guaranteed, but this lineup is very possible, which is why this writer gives this trade for the Bulls an A-plus.