All in for AD
The NBA is a superstars league. Teams can’t contend without one and when I say contend I don’t mean make the playoffs. I mean winning multiple rounds of the playoffs.
I mean being truly considered by all, as a team that could bring home the Larry O’Brien trophy. With all that being said, the Bulls should do absolutely everything they can within reason to bring Anthony Davis back home.
So first let’s start here.
This is going to be one of the points of contention people will bring up when saying that the Bulls should not sacrifice significant young and future assets for AD. “He doesn’t want to play here”. Or “you can’t give up all that without him to agree to stay here long term”. I would counter with this. Trade for Anthony Davis (which I will outline how that can happen in a minute) and say “AD who do you want to be the next head coach of the Chicago Bulls”. As everyone should by now there should zero chance Boylen is here next year. Now whether he picks his old high school coach, an assistant he used to play for, or an old college roommate you go and sign him. So there, now he’s playing for his own hand picked head coach. Next, the Bulls will have 40 million in cap room this offseason. “Anthony who do you want to play with? Who is your buddy?” Then you go throw everything at that free agent.
“But Russ (that’s me) nobody ever wants to sign here. The Bulls always miss out on big free agents.” Well that was before Chicago, still the third biggest market in the country let alone one the more popular teams internationally, had a top 5 player in basketball. Lastly the Bulls would then have AD’s bird rights meaning the Reinsforf’s could offer him an ungodly amount of money, much more money then any other team could offer him. That’s a lot to offer a young man to play in his hometown in front of sold out crowds every night.
Ok, so I addressed how the Bulls could keep AD here. Now let’s talk about getting him away from the Pelicans.
The first thing I have to stress here is urgency. For Chicago to have their best chance in landing Davis, it has to be now, before the February 7th trade deadline. The reason for this is simple. Boston literally can NOT trade for AD right now. The Celtics have to wait till this offseason to make a move for him because Kyrie Irving is under a “Rose Rule” contract. Yeah we can thank #1 for this one. A rule that was put in directly so the Bulls could pay D-Rose a lot of money would also help the Bulls out here. AD and Kyrie are both under Rose rule contracts and a team can not have two players under contract using the the Rose rule.
The Celtics this offseason would be able to put a package together that would likely trump anything the Bulls could offer. Tatum, the Kings pick this year, Grizzlies pick next year, and they could even throw in the Heats future unprotected pick. So if the Bulls want to have the best offer, it has to be now.
What would the trade package look like?
If I was GarPax, I would call the Pelicans and say “Hey guys, I heard something about one of your players wanting to be traded. You see our roster? Pick anybody you want besides Lauri Markkanen, and they are yours. On top of that we will give you our first round picks in 2020 and 2021.” Sadly I don’t think this gets it done. New Orleans would want this years projected top 5 pick. They would want to go Zion hunting.
Now the offer would Zach Lavine, Wendell Carter Jr, and this years unprotected first rounder. That offer beats anything any other team could offer RIGHT NOW. Better then the Lakers and their swarm of under performing young players and mid first round pick. That’s the best offer to the Pelicans that could be on the table TODAY. The Bulls could realistically trade for Anthony Davis today if the Pelicans are unwilling to deal with the circus of waiting till the offseason and fielding questions and media pressure daily for next several months.
What’s left for Anthony Davis to play with in Chicago after the trade?
Well to start, Lauri Markkanen is the perfect guy to play next to AD. He’s the perfect stretch 4 that New Orleans has been trying to put next to Davis his entire career. The Bulls would still have Kris Dunn who at the worst is a guy who could come off the bench and play great defense and provide energy on a contender. Chandler Hutchison who nobody knows quite where his ceiling is yet. Then you have the big free agent acquisition made this offseason with all this cap money (KD?). Bring in some veterans on cheaper deals looking to play for a winner. Poof that’s not only a playoff team in the East but a bonafide contender for a championship.
I know that is a lot of what ifs and maybes on top of GarPax having to pull all that off. But during the rebuild the Bulls have done a very good job of acquiring assets and if it were up to me, I’m pushing them all in for a chance at a top 5, future hall of famer, superstar. Both hands baby! I’m ALL IN!
Photo: USA Today
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