Arturas Karnisovas will never sell high

a couple of role players, not typically mentioned in trade rumors, may actually get the Bulls a trade return

Happy 39 games into the season, Bulls fans:

I have been pretty checked out on the ‘competitive’ on-court product lately in early anticipation for the trade deadline. I can’t be disappointed if I don’t expect anything, but I can be annoyed.

I will likely still do an overall primer on where the Bulls find themselves, but it has way less utility than how the Bulls front office finds themselves. Based on past comments and inaction at prior deadlines, I figure the Bulls themselves believe they have an interesting, progressing team that just needs better health to really inform how good they are. They will completely abandon their preseason stated ethos of “competitive, while building” to just go full-bore for the 9th seed, which means they cannot and will not take a even a slight step back in a trade, whether getting back a future asset (likely requiring to take on bad money, something they seem mostly incapable of¹) or even simply freeing up minutes and shots.

It’s also some kind of self-care to personally reduce expectations for what the Bulls could get asset-wise in a trade for any of their expiring contracts. I’m not saying what a good or even replacement-level front office could get, but what the Bulls could get. Even if Coby White had a trade market percolating, by virtue of his current salary being so low that even actual contenders with high payrolls could fit it in, AK would not know how to generate or use leverage.

Ayo would be more tradeable on an extension. Vuc is never leaving.

I will give the Bulls credit for something though: they have seemed to have some success in role player showcasing. I think a lot of it has to do with their unique standing in the league, where nearly all other teams have better players or younger players, whereas the Bulls are in that middle void so a decent, young-ish player can get a lot of opportunity in a low pressure environment. The Bulls have also done a good job signing these players to relatively low contracts, which is another unique lane for them as most teams have stars and rookie deals on their books.

Specifically this year, through opportunity and contract-signing they have raised the trade value of Jalen Smith and Tre Jones.

Smith had a disappointing first season here but has been much better this year. Perhaps helped by the trend of the league (and in typical late fashion, the Bulls) playing more bigs. It’s not very useful, but it is interesting to know: the Bulls are 18-14 when Smith plays, and 0-7 when he’s out.

In the backcourt, Jones has been consistently good with sporadic nights of elite point guard play, especially needed for the many games White and Josh Giddey have missed this year. Jones capped off a career-night in Houston on Tuesday with a garbage-time three² to set his best ever mark from distance:

Coincidentally, the Rockets are a team in desperate need of guard help. I am not quite as sure a contender like them would value Jones that much, as I’m not sure he makes any playoff rotation on a team with aspirations for a deep run.

But Jones, and Smith could be an innings-eating regular season player, and a depth injury replacement who won’t mean a huge drop off.

And more importantly, and this distinguishes them from Coby and Ayo, both Jones and Smith are under contract for future seasons, at $8M and ~$9M respectively, and Jones has a team option for 2027-28.

That factor is looking like it carries value in this trade market, though even with both playing well I am not sure it means first-rounder value in and of itself. But it’s positive value! Unfortunately, AK’s Bulls are dreadful at the mere concept of ‘value’, to the point where they’re offended that their guys are being discussed like assets and not more cherished as essential cogs of their 39-win program³.

And with the Bulls true organizational ethos being “please sir, let us keep our jobs”, AK will only sell high in the sense that he’ll sell to ownership his success stories of signing role players to cheap contracts while remaining In The Hunt for being one of the 10 best teams in the by-far-worst conference.

1. I’ll save it for a future post, but the Zach LaVine salary dump last year was actually a good use of this. They got the first round pick not for LaVine, but for taking back Collins and Huerter’s multi-year money obligation.

2. I thought we were against that, Vuc?

3. “Billy loves him”