BREAKING: BULLS DO PLAYER TRADE

Alex Caruso sent to the OKC Thunder for Josh Giddey

Bulls reportedly just did their first player trade in 34 months, with Woj breaking on a certain social media app (amoral, IMO) that they have traded Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey.

pic stolen for the social distribution…

Thankfully, in absolute terms I’m an unproductive creator of content, so I only had a "they're not going to do anything, don't worry about it" draft merely in my brain. Much easier to throw away!

But I also want to get the word out and discussion going here before fully diving into it.

First impression: I’m simply happy they did something, and ASAP.

Second impression: Caruso was their biggest trade chip and they didn’t receive any draft picks? Or money savings? Giddey is a lot younger, but contractually about the same as Caruso, heading into the last year of a deal and eligible for an extension. If no extension this summer, Giddy becomes a restricted free agent (Caruso would’ve been unrestricted) in summer 2025.

Woj tried to hilariously add some basketball context from the Bulls side, and it was like (what I’d imagine) a native Spanish speaker hearing a high school freshman attempt the language sounded like. I don’t have that deeper of knowledge in Giddey’s game, but know he can’t shoot and was mostly excised from the Thunder’s playoff rotation.

Woj did use the words “replace Lonzo Ball” though, suggesting that the Bulls will not be part of Ball’s PR campaign for an unprecedented return to play. (good)

Giddey also has a notable off-court history, with allegations of a sex crime popping up last year that were ultimately not pursued either by law enforcement or the NBA.

I am thinking that once the initial euphoria of the Bulls actually participating in NBA transactions wears off, I’ll deem it to be another bad move by Arturas Karnisovas, because he’s incompetent and should be fired. But it does also provide some hope that they’re at least going to try something this offseason, with the draft next week and free agency shortly after that.