The 2024-25 season has been straight out of hell for the New Orleans Pelicans; instead of building off of last year’s playoff appearance, they have endured injury woes like no other team and have found themselves at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. And perhaps this season becomes the breaking point for the Pelicans and push them to the point of wanting to trade Zion Williamson away, deeming him to be an unreliable star player beyond repair — which could then lead him straight to the waiting arms of the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls have been playing excellent basketball as of late, with Josh Giddey blossoming into the all-around force many believed he could be back in his early days with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Chicago has been very averse to hitting the reset button completely, which means that they could be a team that talks itself into trading for Williamson and his tantalizing upside.
Of course, the Pelicans would at least want to have Williamson (mostly) healthy for one full season so they can gauge just how far the team can go with him as their best player. But in the event that the Pelicans make Williamson available for trade, here’s the best offer that the Bulls must put forward as they look to build a nice young core involving Giddey and Coby White.
Bulls sacrifice young talent to acquire young talent
Bulls trade: Zach Collins, Matas Buzelis, Patrick Williams, 2026 CHI first-round pick, 2028 CHI first-round pick, two second-round picks
Pelicans trade: Zion Williamson
At first glance, some Bulls fans may look at this trade and feel as though the team is giving up way too much for Zion Williamson. As the NBA has proven time and time again, availability is the best ability when it comes to a star player, and Williamson has simply been far too injury-prone throughout his career thus far to be a true superstar on a contending team.
Williamson played in only 30 games this year, and this is just way too few games for a team’s best player to suit up in. He might just be 24 years of age, but there is risk in that as well; if he’s already injury-prone at such a young age, how reliable can he really become once he gets older?
But there is too much upside in Williamson for any NBA team to give up on him. And playing on the Bulls might be perfect for the 24-year-old highflyer, as he can benefit from how much easier the game would be for him with Josh Giddey setting the table for him.
Williamson averaged 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per ball game before being ruled out by the Pelicans for the rest of the season. Those are All-Star numbers when healthy. And with the space Williamson is about to have in the paint with Nikola Vucevic spacing the floor for him, those numbers could rise should he arrive in the Windy City.
It takes talent to acquire talent, however, and the Bulls will have to part ways with hometown hero Matas Buzelis to get the Pelicans to come to the table. Buzelis has shown flashes of being an incredible slasher whose range is improving by the day; he is only 20 years of age as well, and as a 6’10” wing who can handle the ball and score efficiently, he is going to become a hot commodity in the NBA in the near future.
Having to include Buzelis will give the Bulls pause, and for good reason. They may not want to trade for Williamson if it will cost them their 2024 first-round selection. But putting Buzelis on the table is the only way the Bulls will get the Pelicans to answer their call.
Even with Buzelis already on the table, that will not be enough for the Pelicans to part ways with their franchise cornerstone. They will want at least two first-round picks; Williamson’s potential is simply that tantalizing. But that must be as far as the Bulls go in any prospective trade with the Pelicans.
Zach Collins is an easy player to add to the trade considering that his contract is set to expire at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season. Meanwhile, Patrick Williams has shown to have nowhere near the value his $18 million a year contract implies he has. Williams is only 23 years old, but he has somehow gotten worse this year, putting up just 8.8 points per game on a career-worst 39 percent shooting from the field, earning himself a warranted demotion to the bench.
