Over the last 10 seasons, the Bulls have made 13 in-season trades the majority of which were to save money, get rid of guys, or acquire more draft picks. With Gar Forman as GM, he hasn’t made much noise with in-season trades. Arguably his biggest midseason trade came last year when he traded for Otto Porter Jr. Prior to this, his biggest midseason trade came at a cost when they let Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott go.
I wouldn’t expect this year to be any different. Bulls fans shouldn’t expect any big trade is because of rumored meaningful changes in the front office.
It would be highly unlikely to allow this front office to make a major change with a rebuilding roster if they may not be around at the end of this season. This Bulls season doesn’t look to be going anywhere good and allowing management to transform this roster would be a huge mistake if they have no intention of keeping them around.
The most likely players to be traded on the current roster would be Thaddeus Young and Denzel Valentine.
Neither of them is going to garner any big names in a trade but as long as they could bring in some young talent or a draft pick these trades could be worth it. Thaddeus Young will likely look to be traded to a contender. Denzel Valentine will most likely look to be shipped anywhere as it’s clear his relationship with Boylen has been difficult at best.
Even if the two trades were to happen don’t expect Boylen to use any new players in a meaningful way. Boylen has shown the entire first half of the season that he wants to stick to a traditional style. It would be surprising to see new guys inserted into his gameplan halfway through the season.
The trade deadline is February 6th. Until then all we can do is wait and hope that Gar Forman and John Paxson don’t set this franchise back another 3 years with a boneheaded trade.
