Chicago Bulls

Golden State Warriors Receive: F Thaddeus Young, G Coby White, CHI 2022 1st Round Pick (Top-10 Protected)

Chicago Bulls Receive: F Andrew Wiggins, MIN 2021 2nd Round Pick (via GSW)

The Chicago Bulls made one of the biggest moves of the season at the NBA trade deadline when they acquired All-Star center Nikola Vucevic and now, with him and Zach LaVine, the Bulls have two All-Star players that are looking to bring this franchise back to its glory days. While they will likely be a playoff team this season, the Bulls could still be looking for that third, high-level and dynamic scorer to cement themselves as one of the best teams in the league. 

This is why the Bulls could potentially pursue a trade for Warriors’ wing Andrew Wiggins. One of the main reasons why the Warriors could potentially be interested in this trade is for immediate salary relief and a chance to go after another big name All-Star in the future. 

Right now, with Wiggins on their roster, the Warriors are set to be $51.7M over the salary cap for next season and that is before signing key free agents to fill out the remainder of their roster! Not to mention, Golden State and Stephen Curry have to work out the details on a contract-extension, so they will need a ton of salary space to do so.

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Trading Wiggins for Young and White not only gives the Warriors some financial flexibility this season, but will free up cap space heading into the offseason following the 2021-22 season since Thaddeus Young will be in the final year of his contract next season. 

Adding Coby White from the Bulls could also end up being a huge addition for the Warriors because he is a young talent with a lot of potential to grow as a combo-guard in this league. He is already an above-average perimeter shooter and behind Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, White could really turn himself into an elite-level guard in this league. 

While the Warriors would likely want an All-Star level player in return in a trade for Wiggins, this trade is not that bad for the Warriors because it gives them a chance to not only free up some cap space, but still contend in the West given that Young and White can contribute immediately and they will also still be able to pursue big names like Karl-Anthony Towns or another elite-level player via trade. 

This trade scenario may not be a “homerun” acquisition for the Warriors, but both Thaddeus Young and Coby White are great role players from the Bulls that could really make a difference in terms of depth and production for next year’s Warriors’ squad.