Chicago Bulls Receive: G Lonzo Ball
New Orleans Pelicans Receive: F Thaddeus Young, CHI 2022 2nd Round Pick
The trade scenarios the Bulls could offer for Lonzo Ball are endless given their draft assets and their young talent, but in this scenario, trading away Thad Young makes a lot of sense for both teams. For the Bulls, Young is in the final year of his contract and they will most likely not retain him after this season.
For the Pelicans, Thaddeus Young could be a big impact veteran player in their frontcourt. As mentioned earlier, New Orleans has virtually no depth behind both Zion Williamson and Steven Adams in the frontcourt and with Young still playing at a high-level at 32-years old, he could be the missing piece they need to make the playoffs.
In every season since the 2008-09 season, Young has averaged over 10 points per game and this season, while he is averaging just below 10 points per game, he is still making an impact for the Bulls. In 12 games off-the-bench, Thaddeus Young is averaging 9.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and is shooting 57% from the floor.
His veteran leadership and experience could be very useful for a young Pelicans team that does not have much playoff experience. It would help alleviate some of that burden from Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson. For the Bulls, they get their point guard leader they so desperately need.
Coby White is a fantastic young guard and has a lot of potential to grow into a great combo-guard and with NBA trade rumors circulating about Zach LaVine’s future with the team, pairing Ball up with White in the backcourt could help this Chicago Bulls team moving forward tremendously.
With Kris Dunn gone and Tomas Satoransky not being a true reliable point guard, the Bulls need to solidify the depth in their backcourt. Lonzo Ball can be the “do-it-all” guy for the Chicago Bulls and help speed up the development of some of the other young players on this team. Trading for Lonzo Ball gives the Chicago Bulls one of the best young cores in the league and a legit chance to be one of the team’s nobody will want to play 2-3 years down the road.
