The Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers are two teams who won’t win the championship this year, but could very legitimately contend for it next season.
Because of that, both teams need to start making moves that will help them in the near future.
The emergence of rookie Ayo Dosunmu over the past few months has made many question whether Lonzo Ball is long for Chicago.
This week NBA insider Sean Deveney and long-time analyst Steven Bulpett appeared on the Heavy podcast and discussed the odds of Ball landing LA this summer.
“Look at Ayo, he is a guy who intrigues the hell out of me,” Bulpett told Deveney.
“You look at him at this point and you have to say, what is he going to be with seasoning, with experience, with being able to focus his basketball intellect, develop his game and make even better decisions. This guy can play. If he stays on this track, then the bigger concern is going to be stretching out DeMar DeRozan’s window as long as possible to take advantage of a guy like Ayo.”
All of which suddenly makes Ball very expendable.
“It leaves some interesting questions with Lonzo,” Deveney suggested. “You’re going to have an opportunity, if you want to shop him, you can bring back something of real value. There were a lot of teams that wanted him last summer and that is not going to change. Now you’ve got him under contract, you can make a swap, that would be worth exploring for a lot of teams.”
And which team would make the most sense? Los Angeles.
“The Clippers, though, if they wanted to make a push for him, they have the pieces,” Bulpett noted. “They could build a package around Luke Kennard and Zubac, that kind of addresses the Bulls’ big problems with shooting and defense at the rim and it allows the Bulls to look for a trade that sends out Vucevic as well. The Clippers really like Zubac though, so it would be tough.”
Ball has been very open and honest over the past few months about how things ended between him and the Lakers, and how that impacted him. Should things with the Bulls go a similar route, it will likely have a big effect on the youngster.
Honest stuff from Paige. https://t.co/60qpv01E5r
— Game 7 (@game7__) April 2, 2022
That said – Ball would be great on the Clippers. They need a credible point guard, and he would more than suffice. Plus, it goes without saying that his girl would love LA. A win-win.
Will the Bulls ultimately trade Ball to the Clippers this summer?
Time will tell.
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Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
