How This Deal Impacts Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls were one of the teams that were a rumored landing spot for Rudy Gobert before he landed with the Minnesota Timberwolves, so it is clear they are interested in making a splash this offseason. Acquiring Kevin Durant would take at least what they were willing to part ways with to land Gobert.
Inserting Durant into the lineup in DeMar DeRozan’s spot would make the Bulls a more dangerous team. While DeRozan scored at a historic clip for stretches of the season, he isn’t a very strong defender.
Durant can fill numerous roles on defense, matching up with the opposing team’s best perimeter player and providing some rim protection in smaller lineups.
The Bulls would have a sizable hole at the center spot moving on from Nikola Vucevic, but he shouldn’t keep them from acquiring Durant. He has proven to be a clunky fit as the third scoring option as he is also a negative defensively.
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Chicago likely wants to hold onto Patrick Williams if possible. But, without an overflow of draft capital or other young, high-upside players to compensate for not including him, Williams likely has to be part of the deal.
Not to be lost in this deal is that Chicago is also getting back Joe Harris. Harris missed all but 14 games last season but provides the team with an elite floor spacer. Harris has knocked down 43.9 percent of his 3-point attempts in his career and has led the NBA twice in 3-point percentage.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Updates On Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets & Chicago Bulls
Durant would combine with Zach LaVine to be one of the best scoring duos in the NBA. They would also have a solid group of complementary players headlined by Harris, Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, Coby White, Derrick Jones Jr. and Andre Drummond.
