Does this trade make sense for the Chicago Bulls?
Losing Lauri Markkanen seems more and more likely this offseason, but quite honestly, that is not much of a loss for the Bulls. They have Nikola Vucevic now in the frontcourt, which will solve a lot of issues and Thaddeus Young definitely outplayed Markkanen this year.
The veteran forward is going to be entering the final year of his contract with the Bulls and they also have Al-Farouq Aminu in the final year of his contract, who they acquired with Nikola Vucevic from Orlando at the NBA trade deadline.
These two guys will definitely be able to fill the void left behind from Lauri Markkanen and with Patrick Williams having the ability to play “small ball” at the power-forward position, the Bulls will be fine without Markkanen.
READ MORE: NBA Trade Rumors: Lauri Markkanen privately prefers landing with the Mavericks
However, just letting him walk away is too much value going out the door, especially since they held onto him through this year’s NBA trade deadline instead of dealing him for value. As a result, getting Jalen Brunson would be a great move, especially given how weak the Bulls backcourt has been.
Zach LaVine is this team’s primary ball-handler and Coby White has shown the ability to be a factor on and off-the-ball on offense, but this team still needs a primary point guard who can take a lot of pressure off of LaVine to make all the plays for himself and others. Jalen Brunson can be that guy and the best part about getting him is that he is only 24-years-old.
Chicago would have to pay him following the 2021-22 season should they want to keep him, but getting Brunson allows the Bulls to go after more talent instead of focusing on trying to land one of the best point guard talents available in free agency this upcoming offseason.
If Lauri Markkanen decides he wants to sign elsewhere in free agency, the best thing the Bulls could do is to execute a sign-and-trade, not only to salvage some value, but create a pretty decent sized trade exception that they could use during the 2021-22 season to add even more talent to their roster.
