NBA Rumors: Bulls Could Acquire Anthony Davis For Carter, Portis, And Draft Picks, ‘Da Windy City’ Proposes
The Chicago Bulls are generally not considered one of the teams that could land Anthony Davis via trade or free agency, despite the fact that the New Orleans Pelicans big man is a Chicago native. However, that didn’t stop Fansided’s Da Windy City from proposing three trades that could allow the struggling Bulls to acquire Davis, all without having to give up any of the three young players they acquired last year from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In the first two of his three suggested trade packages, Da Windy City’s Ryan Heckman recommended including a few future draft picks with current Bulls players, with the first package consisting of Wendell Carter Jr., Denzel Valentine, two first-round picks, and a second-rounder, and the second featuring Bobby Portis, Chandler Hutchison, and a “hefty load” of future draftees. For the third package, Heckman proposed a way in which the Bulls could get Davis without having to surrender so many draft picks — by sending young big men Carter and Portis, a future first-rounder, and a future second-rounder to the Pelicans in exchange for the 25-year-old All-Star forward/center.
“It would be quite the haul for the Pelicans, who get two starting-caliber players in return for Davis. Not only that, but they get a future first and future second-round pick. The sacrifice is enormous on Chicago’s end with any three of these deals, but the opportunity to see a core of Davis, [Lauri] Markkanen, [Zach] LaVine, and [Kris] Dunn could persuade the big man to stick around for the long haul.”
Currently, the Bulls sit at 13th place in the Eastern Conference with a 5-15 record and have mostly been playing without Markkanen and Dunn, who, together with LaVine, joined the team in the trade that sent Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves on the day of the 2017 NBA Draft. Dunn has missed all but one game due to an MCL sprain, while Markkanen has yet to suit up after suffering a sprained elbow during the preseason, as noted by NBC News.
Anthony Davis reportedly is open to being traded to the Celtics, along with three other teams.https://t.co/dx4F8nerTm pic.twitter.com/PDlaJ3f4w8
— NESN (@NESN) November 24, 2018
As for the players whom Da Windy City suggested could be sent to New Orleans so the Bulls can acquire Anthony Davis, rookie center Carter has averaged 11.2 points and 7.2 rebounds, while Portis, a fourth-year power forward, averaged 10.5 points and 10 rebounds before getting injured four games into the 2018-19 NBA season. Rookie small forward Hutchison, who was mentioned in the second trade package suggestion, has played a key role off the bench for Chicago and is averaging 5.1 points and four rebounds for the team.
Meanwhile, it appears that Davis remains likely to join the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, or Philadelphia 76ers, should he ask to be traded at some point in the near future. According to GetMoreSports‘ Chris Sheridan, there’s also a chance Davis would want to remain with the New Orleans Pelicans, though that would depend on how they perform in the first half of the 2018-19 season, with a “middle-of-the-pack or worse” performance possibly resulting in Davis getting shipped to another team before the February trading deadline.
