The Kevin Durant sweepstakes has yet to conclude. There have been various teams connected to acquiring the former Finals MVP. Teams such as the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat were the favorites to start.
The Chicago Bulls were the third team that were connected to Durant when the initial trade request came forward. The Bulls didn’t receive the greatest betting odds by Vegas to land the disgruntled star but they were in the running nonetheless.
With a Durant deal essentially dead in the water for Phoenix because of the Ayton deal and Miami being unable to trade for him, the Bulls still remain. Max Kellerman of ESPN said on his radio show the Bulls make the most sense to land Durant at the moment.
Both Kellerman and Jay Williams discuss the possibility of Durant landing in the Windy City and the possible trade packages to land him. Durant still has an unprecedented four years remaining on his deal and is the most talented controllable asset available in NBA history.
Kellerman’s Point
Kellerman initially points out that the Bulls can offer both veteran players as well as young players so that the Brooklyn Nets could still be competitive. The Bulls offer that will names like DeMar Derozan and Nikola Vucevic. They could also offer young players as well.
The Bulls could unload all of this and still have names that Durant would want to play. Names like Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball would fit perfectly for the offensively gifted Durant. LaVine would provide another gifted offensive scorer, Ball a talented playmaker and defender, not to mention Alex Caruso is one of the more respected bench players.
Not having to gut the roster would be vital in making sure the Bulls are still competitive in possible trade scenarios. Both Kellerman and Williams did acknowledge that Brooklyn is likely to not desire Vucevic in a trade. In which case, the Bulls would need to trade him elsewhere in order to acquire either players or picks to entice Brooklyn.
Trade Packages
Based on what the Brooklyn Nets are asking for, the Bulls have a realistic assets to give up in order to acquire Durant. The tricky thing to start however would be getting the money to match.
Realistically, the Bulls would need a third team to match some of the money. There’s no better team to help match money than the Los Angles Lakers right now. A three team deal is what gets it done for all parties.
The Bulls receive Kevin Durant and the Lakers receive Kyrie Irving. The Nets receive Russell Westbrook, DeMar Derozan, Patrick Williams, Coby White and Nikola Vucevic.
Ultimately, this is the best that the Bulls can offer at the moment. That is if there’s still any remaining interest in acquiring Durant. President of Basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas emphasized the importance of continuity for the development of this roster. It’s hard to continue to hit that home with the possibility of acquiring Kevin Durant.
Granted, the Nets still have the option of sitting on their hands but what fun would that be?
If that deal goes through, the Bulls would have a worse record than last season.
Ball still hasn’t fully recovered from his surgery. Theres no one to rebound or block shots.
Durant is not exactly known for his defense.