The NBA trade deadline has come and gone, and the Chicago Bulls once again didn't do as much as a lot of people were expecting. The Bulls did trade Zach LaVine, which was a long time coming, but a lot of Bulls fans aren't happy with the trade and they got no first-round picks in the deal. The Bulls have recently traded DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, and now LaVine, and they received no first-round picks for any of them.
If the season ended today, the Bulls would finish in a spot that they are very familiar with. Chicago is currently in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and they would make the play-in tournament again if the standings stay the same. Vice president Artūras Karnišovas is willing to sacrifice a lower NBA Draft pick for a run to the postseason, as he feels it is important for the young guys.
“That’s worth it to me,” Artūras Karnišovas said, according to a post from K.C. Johnson.
He later went on to clarify his comments a little bit, stating that he doesn't want to get in the way of this young team making a run. However, he understands that there are positives if they don't.
“Karnišovas clarifies this: Says he won’t stand in way of young players making playoff run, said that’s sign of development and growth,” K.C. Johnson said in a post. “Understands if they don’t make playoffs, their draft pick can be better.”
A lot of Bulls fans were hoping that the team was going to trade away a lot of their best players so that the team would tank for a lower draft pick. When the LaVine trade went down, there were still a lot of rumors floating around about other potential big trades. Nothing else panned out, and now, the time to act has passed.