Get to know Cameron Payne, Joffrey Lauvergne and Anthony Morrow, the newest Chicago Bulls

Goodbye Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott, and a 2018 second round pick (that could become valuable should the Bulls go full tank)

Hello Cameron Payne, Joffrey Lauvergne, and Anthony Morrow!

I’m not going to evaluate this trade in terms of value given and value received, because it will just be very upsetting. Instead, I’m going to give a little information about the three newest members of the Chicago Bulls.

Cameron Payne

Someone in the Advocate Center must really love Cam Payne. Payne is by far the best long term piece the Bulls received in the trade, and will be given the chance over the final 25 games of the season to separate himself from the glut of point guards the Bulls brought in this season to replace Derrick Rose.

There is just not much evidence to support the theory that Payne has the skill set to fit next to Jimmy Butler. The Murray State alum is shooting 33% from the field and 30.8% from three in the 20 games he’s appeared in this season. His career free throw rate is a microscopic .069, and just .031 this season. He’s currently shooting 31.6% inside of three feet. And while Payne helps the Bulls get younger, he hardly does anything to improve their athleticism.

Payne, who missed the start of this season due to a broken foot, has played just over 1000 minutes in his two year NBA career and could certainly still improve his game. But the 22 year old guard has failed to be remotely effective thus far, and has played almost exclusively against backups.

Payne has two years left on his rookie contract after this season. He is on the same contract timeline as Jerian Grant, who I assume will be his main competition for minutes going forward.

Joffrey Lauvergne

Joffrey Lauvergne instantly becomes the Bulls best shooting big man. The 6’11 Frenchmen is making a career high 34.6% of this three point attempts, and he’s been taking them at a significantly higher rate this season than in his first two years in the league with the Denver Nuggets.

While Lauvergne is a capable shooter, he provides very little other value to a team when he’s on the court. He’s spent ²⁄₃ of this season playing power forward, per basketball reference, a position he is ill equipped to defend in the modern era. He is not very mobile and can be attacked in a variety of ways by smart offenses. He is somehow averaging just .1 blocks per game, a nearly impossible accomplishment for someone of his size.

The Thunder are completely starved for any shooting and spacing on the floor, and still couldn’t stomach playing Lauvergne more than 15 minutes per game.

Lauvergne will be a restricted free agent this summer.

Anthony Morrow

Anthony Morrow is a shooter who, this season, has been unable to hit a shot. He’s made over 41% of his three point attempts in his nine year NBA career, but this season he’s only managed to connect on 29% of his shots from beyond the arc.

Morrow, like Lauvergne, is a dreadful defender who coaches have never had faith could execute a team defensive scheme. Much like Lauvergne, the Thunder desperately need the skills Morrow theoretically brings to the table, but because of his inability to do anything else other than fire away from three make him a net negative on the floor.

Morrow is 31 years old and there should be no hope that he will make any great leaps in other aspects of his game at this stage of his career.

Morrow will likely get plenty of minutes for the Bulls the final 25 games. The Bulls have almost nobody who can play on the wing besides Butler, and with McDermott off to the Thunder, Morrow will inevitably become a mainstay in the Bulls rotation.

Morrow becomes an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.