The Chicago Bulls desperately need to choose a direction. The dumping face of the franchise, Zach LaVine, appeared to be a signal from the front office that they were committed to acquiring some more ping pong balls to improve their standing in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. The club promptly finished 17-10 after the All-Star break, before getting crushed in the Play-In to further their place in basketball mediocrity.
Chicago has just a 1.7% chance of landing the Duke phenom and picking outside of the top ten. Re-signing Josh Giddey and prioritizing the development of Matas Buzelis are obvious next moves, but this roster is stuck in neutral and needs a shakeup. Could the Boston Celtics' recent postseason struggles open the door for acquiring a dominant big and long-range sniper?
Kristaps Porzingis
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Even if the Celtics make a miraculous comeback against the Knicks and eventually return to the NBA Finals, the team is in financial peril. They are substantially over the second apron and need to shed salary fast. The new ownership group, led by William Chisolm, shared a reluctance to split the group up, but the lucrative tax penalties are likely too substantial to ignore.
Chicago could exploit Boston's vulnerable state and try to pry away Kristaps Porzingis. The 29-year-old has a lengthy injury history, but when he's on the floor, there are few more dominant post presences in the game on both ends. His shooting from distance opens up the offense, and his ability to shuffle his feet at his size provides elite rim protection.
Since the Bulls would be doing Boston a favor, they could also land some much-needed depth in the form of Sam Hauser. He is one of the purest shooters in the league and can hold his own guarding the ball against similarly sized wings. They could maybe even swindle Baylor Scheierman, who progressed rapidly and had some impressive showings for the current champs.
A third team would have to be involved to eat Nikola Vucevic's contract—potentially the Nets if they fail to land Flagg. They have plenty of room to take on the disastrous deal, can acquire some picks for their troubles, and continue to tank with eyes on incoming freshman AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson.
The Celtics would almost certainly want to keep their championship window open and be willing to give up extra capital for Cam Johnson. He slides right in to fit their scheme and drops Brooklyn's floor even more to pave the way for young players to get increased minutes. They'd presumably need to make another move to further cut costs, but it's a great start.
A potential framework (without picks) would look something like this:
ESPN's Trade Machine
This not only helps the Bulls' youth movement but also maximizes the five spot. If Porzingis is healthy, the club can easily compete for a seven or an eight seed, and if he's not, it just allows younger players to get more shine with the hopes of eventually getting better odds in the lottery.
