It’s starting to sound like you can add ‘Chicago native’ to the list of things Gar Forman looks for in a player. The Chicago Bulls had Derrick Rose, then Dwyane Wade came to town, now the rumor is Jahlil Okafor?
The report dropped via Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago, late on Thursday night.
#Bulls inquiring about 76ers big man and Chicago native Jahlil Okafor, sources tell @vgoodwill: https://t.co/od7hPZ5vO5#BullsTalk pic.twitter.com/j0zpFp31E6
— CSN Chicago (@CSNChicago) February 3, 2017
While this is exciting news for several reasons, the best of them are the potential pieces that could be headed the other way.
Of course, the first trade I tried in the ESPN Trade Machine was Okafor for Rajon Rondo and it totally works. Rondo is only partially guaranteed for next season, the Sixers have all the cap room in the world, and there is an argument that he would be a huge upgrade in IQ and passing. Of course, he brings all the other aspects of a basketball player with him and in the rest of those composite areas, he’s a negative.
It’s hard to determine what he Bulls are hoping to get out any potential deal for Okafor. They already have Robin Lopez and Cristiano Felicio. Sure, they could trade Robin Lopez. They could also let Felicio walk this summer as an unrestricted free agent. They could also plan to keep all three. Clearly that’s working out well for the Philadelphia 76ers, so naturally Forman should do the same thing in Chicago, yeah?
Trading Lopez is a huge yes, maybe not for Okafor. However, Lopez has value and doesn’t need to be a part of this Bulls team. The scary part is what this could mean for Felicio. In case you missed it, Felicio is good and continuously showing signs of improvement. He is a restricted free agent after this season and deserves a good deal. It makes me feel like he might not get that deal from Chicago, if they are truly interested in bringing in Okafor.
The deposed Sixers center has been finding himself on the bench lately, buried behind Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel. Noel made it very clear that he has no interest in being part of a Philly triumvirate.
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There are far too many options to really nail down what the Sixers would be looking for in return. There is no reason to believe that Taj Gibson stays put at the trade deadline. If he does, there’s no reason to think he doesn’t walk in free agency this summer. Nikola Mirotic will also be an unrestricted free agent, does he appeal to Philadelphia despite his very bad, totally no good season with the Bulls?
We’ll have more on this in the coming days. For now, I encourage all of you to hit the trade machine and make up all of the bizarre trades and see if Gar can’t outdo your crazy with the real thing.
