The Chicago Bulls are coming off their third loss of the season, a 114-105 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, who were missing Kyrie Irving. After losing their first game, they held a players-only meeting.
The current core’s time to figure it out may be running out. The Bulls should consider making a trade.
“A blowout loss in the home opener that sparked a players-only meeting wasn’t exactly the start to the season that Chicago had in mind,” Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz wrote on November 1. “The Wizards could help bring some peace and harmony to the Bulls, who have a lot of talent if the right floor general can bring it together.”
Swartz suggests targeting Tyus Jones and Danilo Gallinari of the Washington Wizards.
Bulls get:
– Danilo Gallinari
– Tyus Jones
Wizards get:
– Lonzo Ball
– Dalen Terry
– 2024 first-round pick (lottery-protected via POR)
– 2028 second-round pick
– 2029 second-round pick
Tyus Jones a ‘Stable Veteran’
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“Jones … looks exactly like the kind of stable veteran whom the Memphis Grizzlies relied on the last four years,” Swartz went on to say. “Trading Jones would only help the Wizards’ tanking efforts as well.”
Jones, a 27-year-old point guard, is in the final year of a two-year, $29 million deal. This season, he is averaging 11.8 points and shooting 36.8% from beyond the arc, along with 5.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.3 steals. Before last season’s trade deadline, Chicago was linked to Jones in trade rumors. The Wizards eventually acquired him from the Grizzlies at the February trade deadline.
Tyus Jones appreciation post pic.twitter.com/0z6UbFpzeD
— Constant Lubin (@ConsconsLubin) October 29, 2023
He would be joining an already crowded point guard rotation for the Bulls, which includes starter Coby White and back Jevon Carter, among others.
“The Bulls would also add Gallinari as a floor-spacing veteran forward,” Swartz wrote in an email.
Gallinari, 35, is averaging 8.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game while shooting 40% from beyond the arc. He is in the final year of a two-year, $13.3 million contract and considered signing with the Bulls before signing with the Boston Celtics last season.
Bulls Getting Nothing From Lonzo Ball, Dalen Terry Now
Ball, 26, hasn’t played since January 14, 2022, and is expected to miss the entire 2023-24 season, if not longer. In March, he underwent the third surgery of his Bulls career on his knee, a ligament transplant done as much for his quality of life as it was to get him back on the court.
He is in the third year of a four-year, $80 million contract and would serve as a salary-cap filler for the Bulls. The Wizards could regard him as a lottery ticket while they hit rock bottom.
This season, Terry, the No. 18 overall pick in the 2022 draft, is averaging 1.5 points and 1.0 assists.
Despite his draft status, he has yet to make an impact in the NBA. Even during summer league, an anonymous team source expressed disappointment that he had not demonstrated the level of improvement that they had hoped for.
Even trading the first-round pick would cost the Bulls nothing. The Portland Trail Blazers are also in the process of rebuilding. This significantly reduces the likelihood of the pick becoming a second-round pick in 2028.
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