There were only two teams to not make a trade in the NBA this season; the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers. Both teams were involved in some rumors in recent days and weeks, but nothing ultimately came to fruition.
For the Bulls, it was a bit of a shock that no changes were made. They have been floating around the bottom of the NBA Play-In Tournament positions in the standings unable to find consistent success on the court.
It isn’t for a lack of talent, as the Bulls have plenty of good players on the roster. But, the injury to Lonzo Ball has kept them without someone to bring it all together. Since he injured his knee last January, the team has never been the same.
Without a high ceiling, many people thought that the Bulls would be active ahead of the trade deadline. That could have been some wishful thinking by franchises hoping to acquire someone such as Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, or Nikola Vucevic in a trade.
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While the Bulls did have some trade discussions, talks never got too far along. Coby White has been on the trade block for months and Alex Caruso was also garnering interest recently. But, talks didn’t materialize how they had hoped.
According to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, the Bulls never really considered trading Caruso. He is an important part of their guard rotation and a key piece to their defense. Offers were made for White but were described as underwhelming by Johnson.
The biggest news on deadline day out of Chicago was that the team was in talks with the New York Knicks with LaVine at the center of those discussions. Johnson relayed that the talks could be described as preliminary at best. Another one of his sources said no discussions were even held between the teams, so things didn’t get too far.
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However, talks between the Knicks and Bulls could take place during the offseason. New York remains in the market for an All-Star-level player and the Bulls will have had a little more time to evaluate things by that point. If Chicago misses the playoffs, there could be some major changes on the horizon.
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