Report: The Chicago Bulls Could Trade For Bradley Beal This Off-Season

The Chicago Bulls, for the fourth straight season, have missed the playoffs with a record of 30-41 despite trading for All-Star center Nikola Vucevic at the trade deadline. While the Bulls were not projected to win a championship this season, Chicago finally paired Zach LaVine with a second All-Star to at least push for a playoff appearance. Unfortunately, the Bulls missed the playoffs and the play-in tournament making this season another disappointment.

Chicago is an iconic sports team in basketball and deserves to have an elite roster. The last time the Bulls were elite was when Derrick Rose was crowned as the best point guard in the NBA while having players such as Joakim Noah and Luol Deng playing full starter minutes! The Derrick Rose chapter is sad in Bulls history, but they have a real chance of forming another dynasty this off-season.

According to K.C Johnson of the NBC Sports Chicago news network, the Chicago Bulls could trade for an all-star shooting guard, Bradley Beal. Since signing his extension with the Washington Wizards, Beal has been rumoured to be traded everywhere. However, there is a real chance of that speculation finally emerging as a reality. Here is a quote provided by the Fansided podcast entertaining the idea of the Chicago Bulls attaining Bradley Beal. (This quote was also from the Fansided network page).

That’s the thing to remember. I expect plenty of change this offseason. But I also wouldn’t be surprised to see the Bulls try to work their books so that they have significant cap space in 2022. There already is speculative talk around the league — emphasis on speculative — that Bradley Beal could be a target. I assume that’s largely because of his relationship with Donovan. It’s speculative for many reasons, not the least of which is that there’s no guarantee that Beal will be a free agent then. He owns a player option for 2022-23. But he’d be an intriguing piece alongside LaVine and Vučević.

Johnson’s report does not entail that the Bulls will fully pursue Bradley Beal in the off-season. When it comes to trading for a superstar calibre player like Beal, it will come at a high cost. The important thing to note here is the Bulls organization’s willingness to formulating a competent winning team.

Adding Bradley Beal to Chicago’s roster does not make the Bulls championship favourites next season as there are other better and more experienced teams in the NBA. These teams include Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers, etc. The value the Bulls get from trading for Bradley Beal is a win-now mentality. This organization every season has made small moves with the mindset of making a playoff appearance. With this trade, the Bulls have a real chance of making the playoffs and becoming title contenders. While defence would be non-existent with this potential trio, the offensive production by the Bulls could potentially rank top five in the NBA.

Forming a trio in the NBA is no easy task. While the idea of having Bradley Beal on the Chicago Bulls is attractive, the Bulls would have to offer at least a third of their assets to complete a trade. Here is what a realistic trade could look like this off-season.

Chicago receives- Bradley Beal

Washington receives- Coby White, Thadeus Young, Patrick Willaims, a 2024 unprotected first-round pick, a 2026 unprotected first-round, and a 2025 unprotected second-round pick

This is the best-case scenario for both teams as the Bulls lose more than half of their players this off-season. The only valuable assets the Bulls have to trade are Coby White, Patrick Williams and Nikola Vucevic, who will most likely not be traded. The inclusion of Thadeas Young in this trade is purely for salary cap reasons and nothing more.

Chicago’s interest in Bradley Beal is growing. Although the Bulls would have to absorb a 30-35 million dollar contract, they would be a superteam in the Eastern Conference. With a competent head coach in Billy Donovan, the Bulls are making great strides to hopefully contend for a championship either next season or years to come. The only factor that the Bulls need to ensure when trading for Bradley Beal is to have enough salary cap to re-sign their franchise player in Zach LaVine. Even though Bradley Beal was an All-Star starter this season, Zach LaVine is the best player out of this potential big three!