New York Knicks Receive: G Lonzo Ball
Chicago Bulls Receive: G Derrick Rose, F Cam Reddish, 2023 First-Round Pick (Top 3 Protected – NYK)
The first trade in this article was sensible. It saw both teams fulfilling their needs in relation to their current situation. We decided to get a little crazy with this one.
It’s possible that both sides would balk at this deal. Lonzo Ball is a more effective player than Derrick Rose at this stage in their careers. Why would the Bulls, in the thick of contention, downgrade at point guard?
Furthermore, why would the New York Knicks part with a promising young player in Reddish and draft capital to acquire Ball? He’s an excellent player, but he probably doesn’t move the needle enough to justify this haul.
Let’s talk it out. Reliability is a concern for both of the point guards involved here. The Bulls get more flexible with this exchange. Ball makes about $5 million more per season than Rose, and his contract has an extra year on it.
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The Bulls open up cap space, and with Reddish and an extra first-round pick in hand, they may use that to broker a separate trade for another impact player.
It’s a tougher sell for the Knicks. Still, as the NBA’s biggest market, they may determine that building through trades and free agency suits them better than building through the draft.
By that logic, making a marginal upgrade could be prudent. The pick they’re sending out has top 3 protection in case the bottom completely falls out on the Randle/Ball pairing.
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The first of these two deals certainly feels more realistic. You still can’t rule anything out in the NBA. However it happens, any deal that returns Rose to Chicago would make for quite the feel-good story.
