The Chicago Bulls made a rather significant trade earlier this NBA offseason, trading defensive ace Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Josh Giddey.
Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale doesn’t get it.
While Favale acknowledges that there are some positives to Giddey’s game, he doesn’t think the Bulls got quite a good enough return for Caruso.
“Failing to net even one first-rounder while giving up Caruso, especially from the draft-pick-drunk Oklahoma City, is a special kind of inane,” Favale wrote.
Favale went as far to call Chicago incompetent for letting go of Caruso and watching DeMar DeRozan walk without acquiring a single first-round draft pick.
Caruso was a Second-Team All-Defender last season and was named First-Team All-Defense the year prior.
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During the 2023-24 campaign, Caruso played in 71 games and averaged 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.7 steals and one block over 28.7 minutes a night. He also shot 46.8 percent from the floor, 40.8 percent from three-point range and 76 percent from the free-throw line.
Caruso is 30 years old, so it didn’t make much sense for the rebuilding Bulls to keep him around, but Favale does have a point: Chicago probably should have managed to land a first-round pick for one of the game’s very best perimeter defenders.
Who will the Chicago Bulls trade next?
The obvious top candidate for the Bulls to potentially trade is Zach LaVine.
Chicago shopped him around last season, but was unable to find any takers. There was some speculation that the Bulls could potentially trade LaVine this summer, but that has not happened.
LaVine’s injury history and contract certainly serve as deterrents. He played in just 25 games last year and has only reached 70 games once in the last eight campaigns. He is set to earn $43 million next season, $46 million in 2025-26 and has a $49 million player option for 2026-27.
Taking those things into consideration, you can see why the Bulls have had plenty of difficulty moving the two-time All-Star guard.
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When healthy, LaVine is a terrific scorer, but he is a bit one-dimensional. He isn’t a great facilitator, and his defense leaves a whole lot to be desired.
Clearly, the Chicago Bulls would love to move him. Whether or not a contending team or a team on the cusp will offer up legitimate assets for the UCLA product remains to be seen.
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