Chicago Bulls: 4 Things Fans Want Answers To

Trade Or Bust

To put it mildly, the Bulls have an awful history in regard to trades.

Here is a brief, but painful walk down memory lane. In the (more than) 12 years that vice president John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman have been on the job together, they have essentially dumped a bunch of salaries.

In 2008, Ben Wallace and Joe Smith (along with Chicago’s 2009 second-round draft pick) were sent to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons. Not exactly riveting.

The next year was a little more prosperous: Andres Nocioni, Gooden, Simmons, and Michael Ruffin went to the Sacramento Kings for Brad Miller and John Salmons; Hughes was off to the New York Knicks for Tim Thomas, Jerome James and Anthony Roberson; and Thabo Sefolosha was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a first-round pick.

2010 came along and the Bulls followed suit by trading Aaron Gray to the New Orleans Hornets for Devin Brown; sending Salmons and future second-round draft picks to the Milwaukee Bucks for Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander; and moving Tyrus Thomas to the Charlotte Bobcats to Ronald Murray, Acie Law and a future first-round draft pick.

Then in 2011, James Johnson was traded to the Toronto Raptors for a first-round draft pick, followed by trading Kyle Korver (that one still hurts) to the Atlanta Hawks for a trade exception and cash considerations in 2012.

And of course, who could forget when they traded Luol Deng in 2014 to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Andrew Bynum (and get ready), two future second-round draft picks, a protected future pick and the right to swap first-round picks with the Cavaliers. What?

Is your head spinning? Are you wondering why the organization seemingly has no handle on how to trade successfully? And why history only keeps repeating itself? If so, you are not alone.

Paxson was recently asked about the team’s plans involving a trade in the near future. This is what he had to say:

"“We’re looking at everything. If at some point we feel like we need to make some changes, do something different with the roster, we talk to teams all the time. I know Gar is on the phone with teams every day. If there’s a way to do something different as we look at this, we certainly will. But you need two partners to get something going. And right now there’s not a lot of stuff going on this time of year. But it will all pick up as we get towards February and we’ll have a better idea about our team by then. Hopefully Mike and Jo are back and we can see if this group can find some sort of rhythm.”"

In other words, do not hold your breath.

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