I am not a fan of this trade, but the points that stick out in my head are mostly as mentioned but here I go if I'm going to try to justify it any. From what I've read and seen they got no picks, which is horrible from a team with a billion of them. They passed up the opportunity to trade him at the deadline for at least one protected first it has been reported. Which makes this deal look bad as well. However, that pick likely would have been on a Josh Giddy type, with more risk. So maybe it's a wash.
Outside of that, as mentioned he's younger. A player that needs the ball in his hands which is what the Bulls need. Caruso one of my favorites is set to make 20M a year for 4 years in 6 months. If Giddy works out and we can sign him for less than that it's at least a salary win for a rebuilding team. Separately, Caruso is not a player for a rebuilding team. He'd be a great leader and general, but he's that all around defensive winning piece on a team competing in the playoffs and he's not on one. I read that Reinsdorf wouldn't let Alex go at the deadline because he was making them push for the playoffs last year. Which is just dumb.
Now, lastly, you're getting a kid with all-star potential 3-years into his career who is only 21. At 30 and his style of play we have already seen the (multiple) injury bug creep up on him, it's not known exactly how much tread he still has on his tires. This is the only real point that i could see making sense for this trade value, if the Bulls know something others don't, but even then you are still trading on his potential not his future value.
I won't don't even want to get into all the off court stuff with Giddy... I don't know enough about it but what I remember I hate. But... well he was cleared or something?
At the end of the day, I think the deal makes sense for both teams, OKC got the better side of it right now, we'll see where it's at in 6 months. It's going to take a lot of other moves to properly slot the pieces in place and this makes me really curious for how it changes their draft board for next week. Still have to dump Lavine. Do something with Williams. Do something with DeMar. Figure out where the commitment to Vuc fits into all this. Try not to screw up resigning Coby. Make sure Ayo keeps developing to get that next back. And somehow try not to fuck up all the young kids and rookies so that you can find some pieces there. Ohhh... and then their is Ball. What a mess of considerations. That's why AK get paid the big bucks I guess. I think the next move, whether it's the draft or another trade is actually going to be more critical than this trade. At the end of the day I think people don't hate the trade, they just hate the return, and if we would have gotten a draft pick or two with Giddy I think people would consider it even. For me, those picks are great if you can use them to trade up or something, but on their own the actuality of returning a key player going forward is not high, so I'm not too concerned in not getting one.
Also... we can't forget that we need to bring back the Big Cat or find his replacement... Gonna be a big offseason coming if they are finally allowed to go full rebuild.
www.cbssports.com
