The Chicago Bulls began the first phase of their offseason by selecting 18-year-old Noa Essengue with the 12th overall pick in the NBA Draft last Wednesday. Essengue, who hails from France, is considered a project with a high ceiling and has been compared to the Milwaukee Bucks superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Bulls also selected 18-year-old Rocco Zikarsky, another international player from Australia, who draws comparisons to NBA Champion Isaiah Hartenstein of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Dallas Mavericks’ Dereck Lively II, and Zach Edey of the Memphis Grizzlies. Zikarsky gives the Bulls a nice future piece off the bench.
Now that the draft is over, the Bulls can now focus their attention on further bettering their roster, which they just did with their latest move.
The Chicago Bulls make a major trade to add depth to their roster
The Bulls didn’t waste time making more news after they drafted Essengue and Zikarsky, by making headlines with ESPN Senior NBA Insider Shams Charania reporting that the Bulls are trading point guard Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers for forward Isaac Okoro.
“BREAKING: The Chicago Bulls are trading Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Isaac Okoro, sources tell ESPN.”
BREAKING: The Chicago Bulls are trading Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Isaac Okoro, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/W0FTrRhe7y
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 28, 2025
Ball, 27, was a candidate to be traded at the Trade Deadline last season, but was signed to a two-year contract extension instead. The Bulls, even though they gave Ball an extension, were still trying to trade him, as they had an abundance of guards on their roster and lacked any bigs or depth at the forward position.
This was Ball’s first season back after missing a couple of years due to a knee injury, and he had a solid season, averaging 7.6 points, 1.3 steals, 3.3 steals, and 3.4 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game in 35 games played. Ball will be joining a Cavs team that will be hungry to run things back for next year after they lost four games to one to the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the playoffs.
The Bulls made a solid move to acquire Okoro
Okoro is a 24-year-old small forward drafted by the Cavaliers in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2020 draft. He has four seasons under his belt. The product of Auburn University, Okoro played in 55 games for the Cavaliers, where he averaged 19.1 minutes and had a career low of 6.1 points per game, and should see a good amount of minutes next season.
Okoro gives the Bulls depth at the small forward position as Ayo Dosunmu works his way back from surgery he had during the offseason. The Bulls trading for Okoro could signal the end of the road for someone like Patrick Williams, who now moves down on the depth chart and could be the next player to be moved.
Chicago Bulls facing backlash for terrible trade haul after Lonzo Ball move
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