Chicago Bulls Reportedly Make Trade With Washington Wizards

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards have made a trade.

On Thursday evening, the 2023 NBA Draft is taking place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

During the night, there have been many trades, and one of the most recent deals is between the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards (according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium). 

Via Charania's first tweet: "Sources: The Bulls are acquiring the No. 35 pick from Wizards and selecting Julian Phillips."

Sources: The Bulls are acquiring the No. 35 pick from Wizards and selecting Julian Phillips. https://t.co/Z8rZKX2Rl3

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 23, 2023

Via Charania's second tweet: "Bulls sent a couple of second-rounders to Washington to enter the draft and pick Julian Phillips, sources said."

Bulls sent a couple of second-rounders to Washington to enter the draft and pick Julian Phillips, sources said. https://t.co/gdiwSRy39m

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 23, 2023

Deals like this in the second round are typical, so the trade does not come as a surprise.  

Phillips played one season at Tennessee and averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 steals per contest while shooting 41.1% from the field. 

#Bulls new Julian Phillips:

- 6’7 with almost a 7’0 ft wingspan
- 43 inch vertical (highest in the draft)
- Game is extremely raw with a weak shot pic.twitter.com/uZP4ukgINj

— Die-Hard Chicago Bulls Fans (@DieHardCBfans) June 23, 2023

The Bulls have one of the most talented rosters in the league, with DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine. 

In 2022, they made the NBA Playoffs for the first time in four seasons, but this past year they were the tenth seed and lost in the play-in tournament.

Therefore, the season was a significant disappointment, and they will be looking for a bounce-back season in 2024.

As for the Wizards, they had a talented roster that featured Kristaps Porzingis, Kyle Kuzma and Bradley Beal.

However, they have been the busiest team in the entire NBA and have already traded Porzingis and Beal (and traded Chris Paul for Jordan Poole).

They will likely be a team that is in rebuilding mode.