The Chicago Bulls enter the 2024-25 season amid speculation about the future of core players Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, who have been staples in trade rumors.
However, the Bulls can benefit from being involved in other trades as well.
Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus suggested a three-team trade proposal in which the Bulls would act as a third team to help facilitate a multi-player deal between the Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards.
For their troubles, the Bulls would come away with a pair of former first-round picks, including one selected in the top 10 of his draft.
Bulls get:
Johnny Davis
Patrick Baldwin
$1.2 million trade exception
Lakers get:
Jevon Carter
Jonas Valanciunas
Malcolm Brogdon
Wizards get:
Cam Reddish
Christian Wood
D’Angelo Russell
Gabe Vincent
Jalen Hood-Schifino
$9.9 million trade exception
$5.3 million trade exception
$3.8 million trade exception
Pincus’ logic for the Bulls’ agreeing to participate in this trade is simple.
“The Bulls don’t need Carter, with Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and the hopeful return of Lonzo Ball (knee). Carter struggled on the team last year; Chicago would be happy to get out of his $6.8 million player option for 2025-26,” Pincus wrote on October 4.
“Instead, the Bulls get some young players to test in Davis and Baldwin. The major players in the deal are the Lakers and Wizards, but if Chicago can benefit, why not?”
Bulls Would Land Former Top-10 Draft Pick in Proposed Trade
Davis was the No. 10 overall pick of the 2022 draft by the Wizards. He has failed to launch so far, taking a step back from averaging 5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assists as a rookie to a 3.0/1.4/0.6 line in his second season.
He did take a step forward as a shooter, hitting 35% of his threes in 2203-24.
Davis shot 24.3% from deep as a rookie. But he would be redundant on the Bulls with Ball, Dosunmu, and White still on the Bulls’ roster in Pincus’ scenario.
The real get for Chicago could be Baldwin, the No. 28 pick from the same 2022 class. Baldwin averaged 4.4 points and 3.2 boards in 2023-24, a step up from his 3.9/1.3 split in 2022-23. At 6-foot-9, he presents a more versatile fit with the current Bulls roster than Davis.
Baldwin shot 38.1% from downtown as a rookie. But his efficiency fell in 2023-24 to 32%.
The trade exception from Carter – who signed a three-year, $19.5 million contract with the Bulls in free agency in 2023 – is not very valuable alone.
It could be used to take on a flier at or near the trade deadline as teams wheel and deal to make room for potential bigger splashes.
Bulls Expected to Bring Back Former Spurs 1st-Round Pick
The Bulls signed former San Antonio Spurs guard Josh Primo, the No. 12 overall pick of the 2021 draft who was getting suspended by the NBA in 2023 for conduct detrimental to the team after an independent investigation found he inappropriately exposed himself to women in 2022.
The Bulls waived Primo – now on his fourth team in four NBA seasons – for reasons unrelated to his previous infractions.
He is expected to return to the organization.
“As expected Bulls have waived Josh Primo, per source,” Chicago Sports Network’s K.C. Johnson reported on X on October 3. “He’s expected to rehab his injury in anticipation of potentially playing for Windy City Bulls.”
Primo had surgery for a stress fracture in his ankle over the offseason, per ESPN’s Jamal Collier wrote on October 3.
Moreover, he is another guard in the building, giving the Bulls less reason to trade for one.
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