The NBA Trade Deadline is nearly upon us. Currently on the outside of the playoff picture, should the Chicago Bulls be looking to make a deal?
There was a time, obviously before the season started, where one might have thought the Chicago Bulls would or should be active participants in improving their odds for a playoff push at the trade deadline. Truth be told, the Bulls aren’t out of the playoff picture, they stand four games out as of this moment. However, the season hasn’t gone exactly as hoped or expected in the Windy City.
Once again, injuries have played a major factor in another season gone awry for Chicago. Six Bulls rotation players, including Otto Porter Jr. – last season’s prize trade acquisition, Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. have combined to miss 101 games due to injury already this season. Perhaps it’s more incredible that the team is as close to the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference as they are.
At 19-33, the Chicago Bulls are in a tricky situation, should they move some key pieces at the Thursday 3 pm Eastern time deadline? Is there a tweak that could help them make the playoffs? Should they stand pat? Or are there obvious moves to be made – i.e. Denzel Valentine?
If the team wants to compete for a playoff berth, will they look to add another scorer to help alleviate the scoring pressure from Zach LaVine? With Markkanen and Carter on the shelf for a while, and with Daniel Gafford still not completely recovered from injuries, might the front office add frontcourt depth?
Naturally, there are a lot of questions during trade deadline week. Here are three more regarding what the Chicago Bulls might do by the deadline.