NBA Trade Grades: Bucks Send Michael Carter-Williams To Bulls

Chicago Bulls

Michael Carter-Williams is the best player in this trade, but the Chicago Bulls are only winners by default in this exchange.

By no means was Snell an intrinsic part of what the Bulls are trying to build, since the 24-year-old wing’s 37.2 percent shooting and 5.3 points per game are easily replaceable. His 20.3 minutes per game last year were a career-high, and he never emerged as the 3-and-D player the Bulls envisioned.

This move also frees up more time for Doug McDermott and Denzel Valentine, players who need minutes on the wing to show what they can do. Compared to a player who had proven very little like Snell, that’s definitely the more attractive option.

However, Snell did shoot at least 36 percent from three-point range in each of the last two seasons, and in Hoiberg’s offense, three-point shooting is vital.

Unfortunately, the Bulls front office continues to talk about empowering their head coach while making moves that directly conflict with that idea.

As if signing non-shooters like Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade wasn’t bad enough, Chicago has now added another player with zero three-point touch to its bench. That Rondo-Wade-Jimmy Butler starting threesome will struggle to spread the floor as it is, and now the Bulls are going to compound the issue by bringing MCW off the bench.

There’s a quality player hidden somewhere in Michael Carter-Williams, and perhaps learning from one of the game’s smartest players in Rondo will help him tap into that potential. MCW did shoot a respectable 45.2 percent from the field last year, he’s still only 25 years old and Chicago has a hole at the point guard position for the long-term (Rondo isn’t that guy).

Unfortunately, Carter-Williams barely put up that 11-5-5 stat line in 30 minutes per game last year, he’s a career 25.5 percent shooter from long range and he’s awfully injury-prone, with 70 games in his rookie season being his career high thus far.

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Even if Chicago got the best player in this deal, Carter-Williams is a poor fit for a roster that wants to revamp its offense without any of the pieces needed to do so. If point guard whisperer Jason Kidd — a player who had put up similar stats as MCW to that point in their respective careers — couldn’t get through to him, the Bulls will have their hands full in trying to do the same.

Grade: C+