The Chicago Bulls swapped Lonzo Ball for Isaac Okoro earlier in the offseason. While they’re both solid players, this wasn’t a blockbuster trade. It didn’t even include draft picks. It was the rare player-for-player swap, and it flew kind of under the radar. One NBA insider thinks it shouldn’t have, but that’s not good news for the Bulls.
Chicago Bulls trading Lonzo Ball was good for Cavaliers
NBA insider Chris Herring was asked about one move that isn’t getting talked about enough from this offseason. Other insiders posited the Collin Sexton trade, the Detroit Pistons getting Duncan Robinson, and the Los Angeles Lakers adding Jake LaRavia.
Herring’s pick was the Chicago Bulls-Cleveland Cavaliers trade that sent Lonzo Ball to Cleveland and Isaac Okoro to Chicago. Herring was it was “really smart” on Cleveland’s part.
“They went into the offseason knowing they probably would pass on bringing back free agent ball handler Ty Jerome — the team was staring at a quarter-billion dollar luxury tax bill if it brought back last season’s exact roster — so it opted to acquire Ball, who’s entering the final guaranteed year of his deal at just $10 million,” he said.
Of course, Ball has missed plenty of time over the last couple of seasons. He also didn’t shoot very well in 2024-25, but neither did Okoro, especially in the postseason. “Swapping him for Ball’s short-term deal was a low-risk, high-reward move if he can stay on the court,” Herring said.
As for the Bulls, the move is a little bit of a nothing burger. They do land a decent younger player, but Okoro has yet to really show up in the NBA. Ball is what he is at this point, and the health concerns are legitimate, so moving off of him isn’t the worst thing in the world.
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But he has a very manageable contract and is probably the slightly better player in the swap, so the Bulls could’ve gotten some additional draft capital back, but they didn’t. For that reason, this trade is viewed as a win for Cleveland.
Bill Simmons would hate to be the Chicago Bulls right now
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