Many opportunities for Chicago Bulls ahead of NBA trade deadline, reporter says
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Chicago Bulls are just three days away from the NBA's trade deadline, and all eyes are on the team that's underachieved the last two seasons.
The Bulls handed out red glasses at their home opener so that everyone would "see red" as they made a push forward, but 50 games into the season, the team that Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas built is simply in the red. They're under .500 and undermanned, with no Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, or Patrick Williams.
The Bulls have some major decisions to make as they sit at 23-27 and in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. CBS 2 spoke to Bulls beat reporter Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic if he was surprised LaVine was having season-ending foot surgery.
Mayberry: "I was very surprised. At first, I thought, probably like most fans, that it was the ankle injury, the sprain that he had from the ankle roll, but it wasn't. It was the injury that caused him to miss 17 games in December, and that was the issue, not the ankle sprain. So once that was cleared up, I felt like, OK, now I understand why Zach made this decision because if it cost him 17 games earlier in the season, clearly it's big enough of a problem to make him resort to this last resort decision and opt for season-ending surgery."
Harris: "Do you feel like Zach LaVine has played his last game in a Bulls uniform?"
Mayberry: "It's a tough question because Zach has made it clear that he's open to playing elsewhere, and you wonder if this decision is because the Bulls couldn't work out a deal with the team of his choice. You know, there was a lot of rumors earlier that he wanted to go out and maybe join LeBron with the Lakers, and so, when you add all of that in, it certainly seems a little fishy. And if Zach will ever play again for the Bulls, it's questionable, but the injury makes it likely that he will return because then you have to find another team that wants to trade for the final three years of $180-something million … on his contract. So that would be tough."
Harris: "How active now do you think the Bulls will be at the deadline?"
Mayberry: "They have every incentive to be active right now, because Alex Caruso is here on a great, team-friendly contract that a lot of teams, contenders would love to have. DeMar DeRozan [is on] an expiring contract that doesn't really make a lot of sense for the Bulls long-term at this point. So you have a lot of different ways you can go. Nikola Vucevic has two more years remaining [on his contract] after signing that extension. So, if you're not going to be competitive, why not go into a different direction?"
