The current Chicago Bulls have mostly been defined by the moves they didn’t make.
They neglected to trade any of their veterans at the deadline last season, a mistake that cost them assets.
They’ve managed not to trade Zach LaVine even though he’s been in trade rumors for years.
The Bulls hadn’t made a single trade in three years before this summer, which is one of the reasons their roster is stuck in the limbo between competing and tanking.
Now that DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso are gone, the Bulls don’t have many real trade assets left unless they want to completely tear down the roster.
A recent article in Bleacher Report listed every team’s best trade assets as well as the guys they deemed “untouchable,” and there were some questionable choices for the Bulls.
Chicago Bulls trade assets and untouchables
B/R listed Patrick Williams, Ayo Dosunmu and Torrey Craig as Chicago’s best trade assets, which is certainly arguable.
On what planet is Patrick Williams a trade asset? The Bulls were the only team to even make him an offer in free agency and most believe they vastly overpaid and were nuts to give him a player option in the 5th year.
It’s possible Williams will still evolve into a foundational player, but he’s certainly not there yet and I can’t imagine there are any teams in the NBA that would actively trade for him unless they were sending an even worse contract back to the Bulls.
Until Williams proves himself, he’s not a trade asset.
Dosunmu is a guy plenty of teams would love to have given his production coupled with a team-friendly contract. But those things would make it difficult to get equal value for him, so Dosunmu would be tricky to trade.
Torrey Craig is a veteran who can defend a little and knock down shots on a minimum deal, but what can the Bulls realistically expect to get in return? A G-Leaguer? A late second-round pick?
So let’s recap: The Bulls’ best trade assets are a guy no one would trade for right now, a guy they don’t want to trade and a veteran who will get them a sack of basketballs.
As for untouchables, there aren’t any.
The Chicago Bulls don’t have “untouchables”
B/R named Josh Giddey, Coby White and Matas Buzelis as the three “untouchables” in trades, which does make some sense, as these are the three players they are building around for now.
Given his contract status, Giddey is not likely to be traded anytime soon and I’d be shocked if the Bulls don’t extend him. Also, they were the only team around the league interested in trading for him this time around, but if he gave an indication he didn't want to extend to stay in Chicago, he could be traded at the deadline. That's very unlikely to happen, but he's not untouchable.
Matas Buzelis hasn’t even played yet, so the Bulls aren’t going to be moving him, but in the right deal there is no doubt that they would. It isn’t going to happen but Buzelis isn’t untouchable.
And neither is Coby White. In fact, there is strong argument that the Bulls should trade White soon, cashing in while he’s at his peak instead of waiting for him to become a free agent and losing him for nothing.
Anything and everything should be on the table for the Bulls as they start this rebuild, including trading some of their best players.
