The Chicago Bulls seem to be embracing the tank but a rumored trade could hinder that.
The Chicago Bulls have lost seven of their last eight games and have fallen to tenth in the Eastern Conference. For the floundering franchise, a tailspin is actually a good thing, because they owe their first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs provided that it falls outside of the top ten.
The Bulls have long been rumored to push their tank to the limits by trading their two best players, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, before the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline, but a recent report from a league insider suggests they are considering making a puzzling move.
For much of the winter, Jimmy Butler has been linked to the Phoenix Suns, and the only thing standing in his way of teaming up with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker is Bradley Beal, who holds the rare no-trade clause in his contract. In order to appease Beal, the Suns are expected to get a third team involved, and the Bulls have emerged as suitors.
“They are absolutely involved in conversations with the Suns involving possible Jimmy Butler situation,” said ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on The Hoops Collective podcast of Chicago. “Not that Jimmy Butler would end up in Chicago, but they would get involved in the trade. If I’m talking about a three-team trade and Jimmy Butler is on one end, and it’s not going to Chicago, we’re talking about Bradley Beal.”
Still, adding Beal to a tanking team doesn’t make much sense, and Windhorst clarified that he was reporting simply on conversations taking place, not that a trade is on the horizon.
“I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but the possibility has been discussed,” he clarified.
His colleague was quick to scorn the possibility of Beal ending up in the Windy City. Beal’s massive contract can’t be traded without his permission, which would severely limit the Bulls’ flexibility moving forward as they navigate a rebuild.
“It would be one of the dumbest trades ever,” declared Tim Bontempts.
In order to convince the Bulls to take on Beal and his massive contract, the Suns would likely have to attach some of the heavily protected picks they acquired from the Utah Jazz earlier this month.
On top of that, the Bulls would have to part ways with LaVine, although his fit in South Beach next to Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, and Bam Adebayo could work out.
In the most realistic trade we could build, the Heat would receive LaVine and a 2029 first-round pick (least favorable of CLE, MIN, UTA), the Suns would get Butler, and the Bulls would get Beal and first-round picks in 2025 and 2027, with the same protections as the pick the Heat get.
The only team that walks away as a clear-cut “winner” is the Suns, although they will be investing heavily in two aging stars with no draft capital to rebuild with. The Bulls lose their best player and embrace a tank, although Beal would have to agree to the deal for it to happen.
The Heat, meanwhile, continue to avoid rebuilding by adding a fringe All-Star to their talented core of supporting players, making the possibility of a first-round exit at the hands of a deeper team a near-inevitability.
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