How the Bulls can swing a trade for veteran forward Bojan Bogdanovic

The inside scoop on how the Chicago Bulls can make a trade for veteran forward Bojan Bogdanovic.

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The Chicago Bulls have been without star point guard Lonzo Ball for 19 months, and he'll be on the sidelines for the rest of the 2023-2024 season as he tries to recover from a cartilage transplant procedure, which he hopes will finally get him back on an NBA floor. Lonzo’s situation has put the Bulls on thin ice and has tested the front office’s patience. However, if and when the team cuts its losses, this trade idea by Bleacher Report may make a lot of sense.

Bojan Bogdanovic for Lonzo Ball

Detroit may have to wait and see how the early part of the season goes before making any personnel changes. After all, the Pistons may finally have some life with Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and Jalen Duren, having all played a year together. But if the Pistons stumble out of the gates, the prudent thing to do is kick the wheels off on another rebuilding year.

"Having said that, Detroit has (by far) the worst winning percentage in the NBA over the last four seasons. Breaking out of that kind of funk is hard. And if it's clear early in 2023-24 that that's not going to happen, the Pistons may need to move some of their win-now players. That would include Bogdanovic, who could be a boost to the Chicago Bulls offense (assuming they don't tip off their own rebuild)," Andy Bailey wrote.

Smart, cagey veteran

Bogdanovic is coming off a season wherein he averaged a career-best 21.6 points per game on stellar shooting splits of 48/41/88. Most importantly, his presence would give the Bulls a legitimate perimeter threat that would open space up for the driving lanes of DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine.

"Chicago was tied for last in threes per game last season, which contributed to it having a bottom-third offense. Over the last six years, Bogdanovic has averaged 18.0 points and 2.4 threes while shooting 40.4 percent from deep," Bailey added.

While Lonzo is doing all he can to rehab and strengthen his knee, his return to action—much less his previous form—is far from guaranteed.

"The Bulls certainly know more than us about his situation, but the track record for a player missing two full seasons in a row with any injury (let alone a knee) is bleak. And that's exactly what Lonzo is looking at, as he'll reportedly be out for the duration of the 2023-24 campaign."