The Chicago Bulls have been stuck in basketball purgatory for years now. It doesn't look like that's changing anytime soon.
According to The Athletic's John Hollinger, the Bulls had "a firm offer" at the trade deadline back in February to receive a first-round pick and take on future money in exchange for Ball. Instead, the Bulls signed Ball to a two-year contract extension worth $20 million to keep him on the roster in 2025-26 with a team option for 2026-27.
Four months later, the Bulls apparently changed their minds about Ball's future in Chicago and sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Isaac Okoro on Saturday.
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Okoro, the No. 5 pick by Cleveland in the 2020 NBA draft, is a solid perimeter defender who is due $11 million and $11.8 million over the next two years before hitting free agency in 2027. He's not much of an offensive threat, however, and logged a career-low 19.1 minutes per game last season while also playing himself out of a significant role in the Cavaliers' playoff rotation.
Sure, it's possible Okoro reaches his potential in Chicago that made him a top-five pick five years ago. And it was not reported which team or teams were willing to part with a first-round pick in exchange for Ball at the trade deadline. But assuming it was a contending team with a late first-round pick to offer, that seems like better value for the Bulls—a franchise that has been stuck as the No. 10, No. 9 and No. 10 seeds in the last three play-in tournaments—than adding a defensive-minded wing with a below-average outside shot and two years left on his contract.
Bulls general manager Marc Eversley labeled his roster as a team in "transition" following the NBA draft this week. Whether the Bulls transition toward the top or bottom of the Eastern Conference is yet to be seen, and highly dependent on how they do in a potential Nikola Vucevic trade this offseason.
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