Riding an eight-game win streak, the Chicago Bulls sit atop the Eastern Conference as we begin the 2022 calendar year. The Bulls were able to take care of business against Orlando on Monday night despite it being a close one but Chicago is used to close games recently with DeMar DeRozan saving the day twice in the span of three games.
The Bulls do have a tough stretch coming, which you can find odds for at bet-michigan.com, but the way they are playing, they can compete with anyone in the league.
Chicago’s core of Zach LaVine, DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Nikola Vucevic has played well, as has key guys off the bench like Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, and Javonte Green among others. But could the Bulls look to add another piece at the four to replace the injured Patrick Williams? Some think so.
The latest piece on this situation comes from John Hollinger, who explores potential trades for the Bulls including the names of Harrison Barnes and Jerami Grant. In the piece, he talks about his favorite “fake trades” and includes the Bulls there:
Chicago also has another tantalizing possibility in its hip pocket: Patrick Williams. The fourth pick in the 2020 draft is out for the season with a wrist injury, but he could be the icing on a trade sundae for the right player. Would the Bulls consider dealing him in a Harrison Barnes package, for instance? What about for Detroit’s Jerami Grant? A Grant-for-Williams (and, um, Jones and Brown) swap has to at least get Detroit’s attention, right? That might be one of my favorite fake trades right now.
A trade revolving either of those two players would likely have to include someone like Patrick Williams or Coby White. With limited draft capital, the Bulls will be forced to include a young piece in any trade.
So the question now is, which one makes sense?
The 29-year-old Barnes is set to be a free agent in 2023 and still has a lot of game left in him. He’s averaging 16.8 points, 6.1 total rebounds and 2.3 assists per game this season. All of those are career highs.
Grant is 27 and also has a contract expiring in 2023 and is also having a career year this season. He’s averaging 20.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game this season. Being slightly younger, Grant does take more shots to get to his average of 20.1 points and doesn’t rebound as well. It does appear Barnes would be the better fit if they were to make a trade for either of them.
With the Bulls being good, the deadline should be interesting for them.
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