Kyrie Irving requested a trade Friday afternoon with less than a week remaining until the NBA trade deadline. Irving, 30, has one of the best seasons of his career, which allowed him to become an All-Star starter this year after averaging 27.1 points per game along with five rebounds and assists per game. The Bulls are looking to add a guard at the trade deadline, per Shams Charania from The Athletic. Kyrie Irving joining the Bulls through the trade could be a realistic outcome for the Nets and the Bulls, just as long as Chicago can get confirmation from Irving’s agency that he’d be willing to resign over the summer with the Bulls.

The Bulls Odds To Land Kyrie Irving

According to PointsBet, the Chicago Bulls have a top-five chance of landing Kyrie Irving before the trade deadline. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers, Mavericks, and Suns seem to be the top three teams interested in actually acquiring Irving. As KC Johnson from NBC Sports Chicago has mentioned, Arturas Karnisovas has a habit of making moves under the radar and tends to go unnoticed. The Bulls are given better odds than the Suns to land Irving, which could mean the Chicago front office is on the phone with the Nets trying to work out a deal.

The Bulls are desperate to make a move to either make the playoffs or completely tank and start a rebuild. According to Shams Charania, they’ll likely target a guard in the extended absence of Lonzo Ball to help them compete for a playoff position. Currently, tanking is not an option, although they could lose Nikola Vucevic in free agency this summer and could be committing big money to an aging DeMar DeRozan. By adding Kyrie Irving, the Bulls would inject a starting All-Star caliber player who could change the course of their season in a heartbeat.

Kyrie Irving has given the Nets no leverage in negotiations as he clearly states that he will not return to Brooklyn if they do not trade him. They’re desperate to get anything in return. The Bulls’ best package is a simple swap between Zach LaVine and Kyrie Irving. However, suppose the Reinsdorf family is willing to dip their feet deep into the luxury tax. In that case, the Bulls can get creative by piecing together a trade package around Alex Caruso and Patrick Williams and keep their core ‘big 4’ for a possible title run.