Trade Deadline: Chicago Bulls officially trade Lonzo Ball for $140.3 million to acquire LA Lakers’ Center
As the Chicago Bulls stare at a monumental rebuild, a lot has been made about the futures of their two former All-Stars, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. It is not hard to understand why.
If a Bulls rebuild is to be successful anytime soon, they will need to part ways with players like LaVine and Vucevic. They have already said their goodbyes to DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso.
Unfortunately, there are more players whose futures with the Bulls are uncertain. One of them has to be Lonzo Ball.
Ball had shown immense potential early on in his time with Chicago but soon, injury problems struck and derailed everything that the Bulls had been working towards.
Ball has not played for more than two seasons now and has undergone multiple surgeries during his time out. While there are hopes that he could return next season, there is no guarantee.
In an article on Atlanta Hawks on SI by Jackson Caudell and Rohan Raman, a three-team trade has been proposed. It would see the Bulls receive Brandon Ingram, Kobe Bufkin, Cody Zeller, and Garrison Matthews. The Hawks would get Ayo Dosunmu and Jordan Hawkins. And the New Orleans Pelicans receive Ball, Vucevic and a 2028 2nd round pick (via Chicago).
We are not exactly sure this would be a great trade for the Bulls. It feels like a sideways move if anything. And that is not an attractive proposition when stuck in no man’s land.
As the article goes on to read: “This trade does not make Chicago better and they would still be in a battle to make the play-in tournament. A lineup of Coby White, Josh Giddey, Zach LaVine, and Brandon Ingram is not good defensively and the Bulls don’t have an obvious option to start at center. Will the Bulls pay Ingram if they make this trade? Dosunmu is a promising young player that they should probably keep”