The Chicago Bulls had a chance for other lottery picks in an Alex Caruso trade per a new report
The Chicago Bulls are hoping to improve the roster during the 2024 NBA Draft this week, holding the No. 11 pick come Wednesday night.
With Chicago recently trading Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City in exchange for Josh Giddey, they added a young player with some upside to the roster. But now with the trade being completed, more reports are out suggesting the Bulls turned down other offers for Caruso including for a lottery pick.
According to The Athletic‘s Anthony Slater and Sam Amick, the Sacramento Kings were close to a trade to land Caruso in a deal that involved the No. 13 overall pick as the main piece going back to Chicago. Here is what they wrote on the situation:
The Kings already tried to use it for a significant roster upgrade. They were close to a trade for defensive ace Alex Caruso last week, according to league sources, offering the No. 13 pick to Chicago as the key chip. The Bulls, to the surprise of many within the league, instead opted to send Caruso to Oklahoma City for Josh Giddey.
After this report, it’s clear that the Bulls valued finding a young player like Giddey more than a lottery pick in a deal back for Caruso. This is considered a very weak draft with no star player standing out at the top.
Instead, the draft pool is filled with some high potential players but the risk is also high as well.
Not the first time the Bulls turned down trade offers for Alex Caruso
Prior to the Bulls trading Caruso for Oklahoma City, there was another report that the team turned down multiple trade offers during the 2023-24 season.
Per Will Gottlieb of CHGO, the Bulls turned down offers including for a top 10 pick:
The Bulls took calls on Caruso, but never made them. According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the Bulls have received offers from multiple teams, consisting of multiple protected first-round picks ahead of the 2024 Trade Deadline. One of those deals included a pick that ended up in the top-10 of the 2024 Draft, the source said. The Golden State Warriors were among teams who made a strong offer for Caruso, multiple sources confirmed.
Ultimately, they declined.
Internally, the Bulls party line was that they would have to start searching for a Caruso replacement from the moment they traded him. That may have been fine in a rebuild, which lead executive Arturas Karnisovas admitted ownership supported.
However, the source indicated that there was a mandate from the Reinsdorfs to fight for the Playoffs. That, no doubt, impacted the front office’s decision making when it came to pulling the trigger on any Caruso deal.
Chicago was really never in a position to contend in the Eastern Conference and it felt like they were playing for a spot in the NBA play-in round instead. That’s exactly what happened and it was another early exit for the team int hat playoff round.
That probably didn’t make ownership and the front office happy but that’s what happened due to some bad decisions. Time will tell if the Bulls are going to be on the right path but they have started to make their decisions by trading Caruso. Now, we wait and see what the plans are for other players on the roster including DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, two names that will continue to be in headlines as this offseason goes on.
And maybe the Bulls will have finally figured it out and will get on track and build this roster into a contender.
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