The NBA was shocked by the Luke Doncic trade.
Other than the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks, it seems no one knew it was coming.
That was a bummer to the other 28 teams that surely would’ve fell head over feet to make a winning offer for the Slovenian superstar.
The Chicago Bulls fit that bill.
Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote in a new article that the Bulls would’ve moved absolutely anyone to get Doncic.
“A source told the Sun-Times that [Bulls executive vice president Arturas] Karnisovas and his front office would have offered anyone and everyone on the roster had they been notified by the Mavericks that Luka Doncic was available in February, but even then, it wouldn’t have been better than what the Lakers gave the Mavericks,” Cowley wrote.
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It is true that the Bulls weren’t swimming in amazing trade chips. At the time of the deal, they had Coby White, Zach LaVine, Matas Buzelis, Josh Giddey and Nikola Vucevic.
If salary cap rules didn’t exist, maybe the Mavs would’ve loved all those five players to join their team at once.
But in an NBA trading rule that requires roster and money matching, the Bulls trade-everyone strategy wouldn’t have gotten the job done.
This report certainly emphasizes the frustrating nature of the Doncic deal to most of the league’s front offices. They would’ve loved a chance to make an offer, but they never got the opportunity.
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