As we near the NBA draft, teams must assess how to best target their needs. For the Chicago Bulls, that may come in the form of a trade to draft LaMelo Ball.
The NBA draft is quickly drawing nigh and the teams with high draft picks are going to have to assess just how they want to utilize the assets at their disposal. Two such teams are the Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have the second overall pick, but they don’t necessarily need any of the trio who are likely to be available in the forms of Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball and James Wiseman.
On the other hand, maybe the Bulls could use a lead guard with Ball’s skillset, and the Warriors could benefit from a deal that swaps picks and provides them key personnel to plug some of the admittedly many holes in their lineup.
Our friends at Bleacher Report recently suggested just such a trade, and we’ll break that down from the perspectives of both teams and discuss whether this deal makes sense for either the Chicago Bulls or the Golden State Warriors.
The deal as described by Greg Swartz:
The gist of this deal: The Warriors move out of the top three in the NBA draft, which likely benefits them, and the Bulls move into the top three. Assuming Ball is a target for them, this works for the Bulls as well.
Let’s break things down for each team, starting with the Golden State Warriors.
Does this trade work for the Golden State Warriors?
There’s a lot to like about this trade for the Warriors, but luxury tax concerns may make this a non-starter.
Swartz states his case here:
"The Warriors could take in Young and Gafford without sending out any salary thanks to the Andre Iguodala trade exception ($17.2 million), and they could have their pick of at least one of James Wiseman, Onyeka Okongwu and Isaac Okoro at No. 4."
The Warriors would be taking on $15 million in salary and that would push their already hefty salary number $31.3 million into the luxury tax. On the plus side, the rookie scale for the fourth pick is $1.38 million cheaper than for the second pick, so we can comfortably say that they’ll be $30 million over the tax when free agency begins if they make this deal.
Considering they’re subject to the repeater tax as well, their tax bill could be as high as $115 million for next season if they don’t cut salary.
If the Warriors did make a deal like this, it’s probably a good indicator that they intend to dump Andrew Wiggins’s $29.5 million 2020-21 salary on a team with cap space, which means they’d need to attach multiple future draft picks.
Picking up Daniel Gafford would be a win for the Warriors as they are in need of a young big, as well as the utility of a slightly later and cheaper draft pick, but the luxury tax issues may be simply too much to overcome.
On the other hand, trading Gafford and the fourth overall pick straight up for the second overall pick does work, so maybe there’s something they could work with there.
Does this trade work for the Chicago Bulls?
This trade is a fun experiment for the Bulls to be sure. Swartz states the case for the Bulls:
"Ball would be a terrific fit in Chicago, a young team in need of a pass-first guard that will put plenty of scorers around him. The Bulls ranked just 20th in assist percentage this season (58.7 percent), leading to a 29th-ranked offense (105.8 offensive rating) that only bested the injury-plagued Warriors."
Plenty of the Bulls’ offensive issues last season were a result of playing for Jim Boylen, by no means an offensive genius. The sheer upgrade from Boylen to Billy Donovan will help things right off the bat, but LaMelo Ball would likely represent a major upgrade on incumbent starting point guard Tomas Satoransky, and Ball would have plenty of potential upside.
In the case of this trade as it’s laid out, the Bulls would cut plenty of salary thanks to Thaddeus Young being sent out, and the talent upgrade is notable. While the Golden State Warriors have some tough decisions to make regarding salaries and the luxury tax, the Bulls have no such concerns in this case.
This trade would be a conditional success for the Warriors, but an overwhelming success for the Chicago Bulls.