A summer of brilliant maneuvering finally has the Chicago Bulls relevant again. This season, behind the play of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic, the team is third in the East with a 28-17 record.
And as the NBA’s annual trade deadline nears, the Bulls have the chance to maximize their potential and prove they are all-in on bringing home a Championship.
Among the many names rumored to be available, there is one that stands out above the rest for Chicago: young wing Jerami Grant, who has been described as the ‘grand prize’ of the deadline.
As a do-it-all type of player, Grant is one of those guys who is a perfect fit for pretty much every team in the league. With the Bulls, his talents could prove especially useful. In fact, Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley already highlighted Chicago’s interest in acquiring him.
The Jerami Grant sweepstakes will be pricey. That shouldn’t scare off the Bulls from making a serious push to win it.
Grant is more or less the player they hope Williams might one day become: long, athletic, versatile at both ends and easy to slot alongside stars Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
Grant, who shares a history with both Bulls coach Billy Donovan and executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas, would likely cost the club Williams, Jones and the lottery-protected first-rounder owed to them by the Portland Trail Blazers, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. That’s a steep price, but not if the trade proves to be Chicago’s key to escaping the East.
Teams have been coveting Grant for a while now, and it’s easy to see why. Before spraining a ligament in his right thumb, he was leading Detroit with 20.1 points per game, making him one of the NBA’s top scorers this season. He’s also putting up 4.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game.
Adding Grant’s well-rounded game next to DeRozan and Vucevic in the frontcourt might be enough to compete against the likes of Brooklyn and Milwaukee.
In exchange, the Pistons could get a haul of young players that includes Patrick Williams (a promising 20-year-old forward who fits Detroit’s timeline), exciting young guard Coby White, and Troy Brown Jr.
It’s a solid deal for both sides, but the Bulls will not be the only team with an offer. The Lakers, Wizards, and even the Blazers are all reported to have an interest. In fact, according to Adrian Wojnarowski, ‘dozens of teams’ would call the Pistons front office about Jerami Grant each week.
It remains to be seen if the Bulls can pull off this deal, but it’s definitely worth the trouble. if Chicago can flip a bunch of young, unproven players into one of the best two-way wings in the game, it could be groundbreaking in their bid to dominate the East.
