The Chicago Bulls are looking like a team to watch at the 2024 NBA trade deadline. They are mired in mediocrity at 23-27 at the moment and are looking at the play-in tournament square in the face. But with little hope of even advancing into the playoffs, let alone winning a playoff series or two, and now without the services of Zach LaVine for the rest of the season, things are set up for the Bulls to blow up their roster and engage with a rebuild. That would mean trading players like Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan for valuable draft picks and/or young players.
Alex Caruso will have a large market. He's the exact type of player that every team needs and would love to have. DeRozan, however, will be tricky to parse what his value is. He will be 35 years old by the start of next season and will be a free agent in the summer. It'll be hard for the Bulls to get full value back for him, but it would beat losing him for nothing. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, it seems like the Bulls are looking to avoid that fate after extension talks have fizzled out between the two parties.
DeRozan's market will be fairly narrow, but that doesn't mean there aren't teams who could use him. A couple of teams stand out as potential trade partners with the Bulls to acquire DeRozan.
New York Knicks
If DeMar DeRozan is willing to embrace a sixth-man role, then the Knicks would make a ton of sense as a team to trade for him. New York badly needs another perimeter shot creator to take pressure off of Jalen Brunson. The Knicks' offense has taken off since they traded Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett to the Toronto Raptors. They have an offensive rating of 128.5 since acquiring OG Anunoby according to an article by Chris Herring of ESPN.
But when neither Brunson nor Quickley have been on the court for the Knicks this season, their offense plummets. New York's offensive rating drops to 109.1, which ranks in the 11th percentile of Cleaning the Glass' lineup data. Without Julius Randle on the floor, who is hurt right now, it goes down to 104.1, which is in the second percentile of NBA lineups.
DeRozan doesn't necessarily fit in with the Knicks' starting lineup when everyone is healthy, but he could be the best sixth man in the NBA. The Knicks don't even have to trade many of their current contributors to get him either. Evan Fournier, Ryan Arcidiacono, and Jericho Sims is enough outgoing salary to make a trade happen. Maybe add a couple of second-round picks and a deal seems feasible for both sides.
New York has a really good thing going right now. DeRozan would have to embrace a new role to maximize his potential on this Knicks squad. Maybe he doesn't want to do that. But he could really help a glaring weakness on this roster.
Orlando Magic
This move seems fairly shortsighted for the Magic at the moment. They also have a very good thing going with this young roster they've assembled and are firmly in the mix for the sixth seed in the East. Paolo Banchero is already an All-Star and Franz Wagner is playing like one too. They are legit good.
But it wouldn't hurt to add some extra scoring oomph to this roster. Orlando's 112.5 offensive rating ranks 24th in the NBA and the only teams behind them are all in the tanking business. DeRozan could help this young team settle down and have another outlet to go to alongside Banchero in late-game situations.
The Magic wouldn't have to trade much to get DeRozan either. A package of Gary Harris, Chuma Okeke, Goga Bitadze, and Caleb Houstan is enough salary to make a deal work. Orlando wouldn't be trading any of their primary contributors or young core players and would get a proven scorer and creator. Even if DeRozan is a rental, it wouldn't be the worst idea to get him and help this young Magic roster navigate their first playoff run.
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