Chicago Bulls: 5 holiday wishes for a struggling franchise

4. Trade a veteran or two by the trade deadline

While the Bulls will probably improve as the season continues, there still remains little reason to retain a couple of their veteran players for the entire season. While the team should be focusing on winning, the youngsters on the squad should be learning to win by playing, not watching.

It’s not earth-shattering to think the front office should move Justin Holiday or Robin Lopez. For Holiday, who will be a free agent after the season, he’s really playing more minutes than he should be at 35.7 minutes per game.

While young players should earn playing time, a young squad like the Bulls should be evaluating those youngsters. Holiday has had a solid season shooting from deep, knocking down 40.1 percent of his 3-point attempts. He could help a playoff contender down the stretch and the Bulls need to be developing Chandler Hutchison as the season progresses.

As for Robin Lopez, another free agent-to-be, his minutes will be tough to come by when Markkanen and Portis are back in the rotation. With Wendell Carter Jr. being the present and the future at the 5, and Jabari Parker and Portis also in the frontcourt, it only makes sense to move Lopez.

Even if the front office doesn’t seem to value second round draft picks highly, moving both Lopez and Holiday should add some type of draft compensation for the team.