Portland has a chance to do well this season but with their current roster a deep playoff run seems unlikely. Therefore, I came up with a trade idea that might get the Blazers over the hump. http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=kkjrno7 In this trade Portland gets Taj Gibson, Kirk Hinrich and Jimmy Butler from the Bulls. Chicago gets Cj McCollum, Earl Watson and a first from Portland. They also get the expiring contract of Emeka Okafor and a late first from the Suns. Pheonix gets Mo Williams and Dorell Wright from Portland. They also get Mike Dunleavy from the Bulls. Another one adds Pj Tucker to Portland and Meyers Leonard to the Suns. This version gives the Suns a little more out of the deal but it really depends on if they value Meyers at all. http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=mcs7hou Portland loses Mo from the bench but replaces him with Hinrich a much better defender and Hinrich might be struggling this year but is a career 37.5% shooter from three. Butler takes over Cj's role and while he is not a great ball handler he is an elite defender and a good shooter when healthy. He also has tremendous upside and is a slasher a role that has been missing from this team. Taj Gibson is a solid scorer, rebounder and is a great defender he is better at PF but could also play C off the bench. Would be a major upgrade here. With those three in tow our defense would be significantly better and we would gain valuable playoff experience as well. Additionally, without having to include Leonard, Portland could pair him with someone like Robinson and Barton to try and get someone like Spencer Hawes from the 76ers. If not at the very least Portland's bench would be much better suited for the playoffs.
Butler is one of the best young defensive wings in the NBA. He would be a great help but Chicago isn't giving him up that easily.
The Bulls need to clear cap space getting rid of Gibsons contract allows the Bulls to have around 15 million in cap space 30 after amnestying Boozer assuming they keep CJ McCollum. In addition they get a protected first round pick from the Suns and they get a future protected pick from us. That means 2-4 picks this year and 1-3 future firsts depending on how Charlotte and Cleveland finishes this year. In addition, they get a nice scorer in CJ. That is enough to add a max player and a couple pieces with that space. They could also flip some of those picks for a big name in the off season. They get lots of flexibility. The Suns get help at SF which they seriously need and get some perimeter shooting in both Wright and especially Dunleavy. In addition they get some extra scoring punch from their bench in Mo who offers them protection if Dragic or Bledsoe are out. The Suns have extra picks this year and while they might want someone like Gasol I am not sure that deal happens. So giving up a first to get Dunleavy and Williams seems like a no brainer.
Maybe I wanted to focus on this particular trade and group of players rather than sorting through comments in other threads to discuss this one deal. It also does not take away discussion from others threads as well.
No it isn't. Chicago will NEVER do this trade. Ill break it down. CJ isn't worth Gibson and Butler. No where close. We can't even trade a first since we don't have one. Do I need to keep going? Didn't think so. Make more realistic trades.
Also, the Bulls are $600K under the LT, way over the cap. Making this trade and amnesty of Boozer might get them close to $20M. Not $30M. The Bulls would be left without a backup PG and Nazr Mohammed at PF. I have been convinced the Bulls won't amnesty Boozer. We'll see.
Learn the rules before bad mouthing someone's idea. We cannot trade this years pick or next years at least not before we make the pick due to rules restrictions. However, we certainly can trade our 2016 pick and 2018 and 2020 or 2017 and 2019 and 2021. The Bulls get Cj cap space and 2 first round picks. Also there has never been a lopsided deal ever in the nba. Erving for cash was completely balanced, same for Dirk Nowitzki for tractor Taylor, Pippen for Polynice and Bj Armstrong as well, Kobe for Divac are just some examples of perfectly balanced trades.
