Billy Donovan talked about what it would take for the Chicago Bulls to pull the trigger on a trade
The NBA's trade season is nearing its finale with quite a bang. Given the recent trade that sent Brooklyn Nets' superstar Kevin Durant out west to the Phoenix Suns, the Eastern Conference has become more wide open. However, one team that has been in trade rumors for the better part of the season—the Chicago Bulls—isn't keen on making a reactionary maneuver.
As the team's head coach Billy Donovan recently noted, any move they make needs to make sense and help their team get better. This means that the Bulls' front office needs to take a long and hard look at their current players before making any move.
"My guess would be it would have to make sense to help our team get better and make sense in terms of the deal," Donovan said.
Self-awareness
Donovan said that at 26-28, he and the team's decision-makers are already well aware of who they are, what they need, and what they have. This is crucial before making moves of any scale.
"We know the things we've got to get better at; if you don't know who you are you don't know where to get better," shared Donovan.
From the outside looking in, the Bulls have a talented but top-heavy squad that relies on its "Big Three" of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and soon-to-be-unrestricted-free agent Nikola Vucevic. What the Bulls sorely lack are credible three-point threats, as the team ranks at the bottom of the league in three-pointers attempted and made.
Careful and thorough assessment
Several Bulls players have been mentioned in numerous trade rumors—from LaVine to Vucevic, to Coby White, Alex Caruso, and Andre Drummond. But in order to maximize their assets, the Bulls need to take a careful and thorough assessment of their players. This is what executive vice president of basketball operations, Arturas Karnisovas, is diligently doing heading to the trade deadline.
"The way I would look at it from my perspective is I really like our guys a lot in terms of the heart and spirit, and I think Arturas likes this group as much as I do," said Donovan. "We want to see these guys get better. Arturas is going to look at the totality of the organization and what's best for the organization; that's what I believe his focus would be on."
