Shams: Lonzo for Okoro

[Dan Z]

over the last 3 seasons Ball played 777 minutes

Okoro played 4,592


I like Ball more as a player, but Ball is more theoretical at this point and that's hard to deny.

Bulls NEED to re-sign Tre Jones after this. We look awful without a point guard, and Coby and Ayo aren't point guards.

I prefer Ball as a player too and agree that his health isn't reliable. I'd rather have Lonzo for X amount of games, plus contract flexibility over Okoro.

What will Okoro bring to this team? A decent upgrade at the forward position? Does this mean Terry, Huerter, PW and the new rookie Essengue get less minutes?

PW hasn't been good, but burying him on the bench doesn't help. Terry doesn't matter much in the long run. I think Huerter was solid last year and will be a better contributor than Okoro(if Huerter plays). Essengue needs to develop and they should give him minutes (I'm not suggesting big minutes, but enough so he can learn and grow).

[SirKaiser]

I hope Lonzo requested the trade because if not, I don't understand why we give up the better player in a 1 for 1.

I was fine with the Caruso for Giddey trade, but this one is just dumb. We absolutely should have had the leverage here, and we just helped a contending team get better for what... a gamble on a project player?

[Dominator83]

One thing to consider here: Lonzo requires the ball in his hands. Okoro does not require the ball, will play tough hard-nosed defense, only 24 years old, after one year his contract becomes attractive as an expiring contract for trade purposes if needed. $11m this year and $11.8m next year is not excessive by NBA standards.

His contract is exactly what Pats should have been

[Ballerkingn23]

Ak is allergic to picks smh.

[CROBulls]

Clown show. First you extended Lonzo when you shouldnt. Then for some magic dumb reason you turned 1st round pick down for him and now you traded him to get Okoro. Like free tickets to clown show. And we having them.

Extends him when we shouldn’t have? I’d need to see your rationale on that one. Please explain.

We extended him to a ridiculously team friendly deal that had no downside, and then traded him for exactly the type of player we need, who is young, and on a bargain basement contract. No Lonzo, no Okoro. No Lonzo, no asset return AT ALL.

The Lonzo extension, to me, is one of the very few indisputably smart things AK has done. Convince me otherwise.

Extending players who cannot stay healthy is terrible GMing. There was no reason to do extension in first place and just let him walk and let him choose his next team. My opinion. But we served like good rehab center instead basketball organization so I guess good for us?

But this is clear onfirmation that AKME doesnt value picks at all.

[wolffy]

The saddest thing about this trade is the fact that it has a hit or miss type aspect to it. And if it does hit, it's in fact even worse for the future than if it turns out bad.

Okoro isn't capable of really helping you advance in the playoffs. But hs is capable of eating minutes from struggling young guys, aka Matas or Noa.

He helps you raise the floor and that's the worst possible outcome. Make the play in, lose, repeat.

[Evil_Headband]

Does this make a Kuminga trade less likely?

[Indomitable]

over the last 3 seasons Ball played 777 minutes

Okoro played 4,592


I like Ball more as a player, but Ball is more theoretical at this point and that's hard to deny.

Bulls NEED to re-sign Tre Jones after this. We look awful without a point guard, and Coby and Ayo aren't point guards.

This move does not assist in clearing capspace. Therefore this does impact their ability to sign Tre. It actually gives less flexibility. That option has value. Being able to clear capspace in this environment has value. Other GMs can extract it. Akme is limited

[Tetlak]

The saddest thing about this trade is the fact that it has a hit or miss type aspect to it. And if it does hit, it's in fact even worse for the future than if it turns out bad.

Okoro isn't capable of really helping you advance in the playoffs. But hs is capable of eating minutes from struggling young guys, aka Matas or Noa.

He helps you raise the floor and that's the worst possible outcome. Make the play in, lose, repeat.

Nobody eats Matas' minutes.

This is a direct competitor to PATRICK WILLIAMS.

Noa is frankly too raw to see the floor.

[Jvaughn]

Also another fallout of this, isnt this just an upgraded version of Dalen Terry? What role does Dalen serve on the team now? We picked up his team option for $5.4M next year…I don’t see a path to him getting minutes. Nor do I see anyone looking to trade for him.

With a competent FO, I would say Dalen's contract could be an asset in a trade, but.....

[FriedRise]

I don’t hate the move. If Okoro is a 3&D player, then he’ll have a spot and plenty of playing time on this team. We have similar players in Dalen and Julian but neither can shoot as consistently as Okoro. Wing defense is important, but I still wish we could somehow upgrade that at the center position.

Zo is on a better contract and impacts the game more (at least the idea of Zo does), but he has to be healthy which is much easier said than done. It’s too bad because he’s such a fun player to watch but at least now we can finally move on from that.

Watch him have a healthy season and be a big contributor for the Cavs to the Finals… we’re gonna need to start charging a lot more for giving teams their final pieces.

[AshyLarrysDiaper]

Okoro is a transition player, and this is a bet that he’ll look better in the #1 transition frequency offense than he did in the 18th (Cavs).

honestly this moved me from "don't like the trade but big picture, who cares" to "there could be a lil something there."

seems like there were some cleveland fans who were annoyed by them trying to force him into becoming a corner-standing 3-and-D guy and thought it was a square peg/round hole situation. think there is some actual upside here based on us asking him to fill a role more suited to his skills

My issue is that even if they rehab Okoro’s value, which again is a decent bet, he’ll be worth what - the 1st rounder they passed on at the trade deadline? At the very most?

And if they keep him through the life of his contract, they’ll have a piece that fits the Bulls’ play style through two play-in/lower seed playoff campaigns. That’s just not something I value.

But for the sake of argument, let’s call the Memphis offer spilled milk and assume Lonzo is no longer worth a 1st (for whatever reason). In that case, sure, I guess this is an okay trade.

[nomorezorro]

after reflecting on it for a while, i think my biggest fear about this trade is that it increases the odds that we give up pick(s) to get off pat's contract

[wolffy]

The saddest thing about this trade is the fact that it has a hit or miss type aspect to it. And if it does hit, it's in fact even worse for the future than if it turns out bad.

Okoro isn't capable of really helping you advance in the playoffs. But hs is capable of eating minutes from struggling young guys, aka Matas or Noa.

He helps you raise the floor and that's the worst possible outcome. Make the play in, lose, repeat.

Nobody eats Matas' minutes.

This is a direct competitor to PATRICK WILLIAMS.

Noa is frankly too raw to see the floor.

I bet you're wrong

[Dominator83]

AK doesn't value draft picks & his obsession with distressed assets just seems like an @ss backwards strategy.

Given his larger approach of refusing to be bad, going after distressed assets is a good idea. It’s how we got Giddey if you need confirmation.

The problem is not this branch of the strategy, it’s the tree itself.

Yea after seeing Lauri develop for someone else , they're trying to find other teams Lauris. Not the worst strategy. Doubt it works out though.

[Guru]

Shams just tweeted it. We’re trading Lonzo for Issac Okoro straight up.

Where are the draft picks???

Also how many wings who can’t shoot does one team need…

He shoots just fine...on low volume.

Ideally a precursor to a Pat trade - they play the same role.

Tough to expect any picks for Lonzo.

Read on Twitter

We turned down a FRP from Memphis for Lonzo at the deadline. Having a tough time seeing how this is a better return.

It was a first round pick for Lonzo AND taking on a bad contract. O'cconor clarified this later on.

[wolffy]

There's gonna be 5 Isaac Okoros out there. Same guy minus the energy

[wolffy]

He shoots just fine...on low volume.

Ideally a precursor to a Pat trade - they play the same role.

Tough to expect any picks for Lonzo.

Read on Twitter

We turned down a FRP from Memphis for Lonzo at the deadline. Having a tough time seeing how this is a better return.

It was a first round pick for Lonzo AND taking on a bad contract. O'cconor clarified this later on.

A bad contract? What did they use the money on instead? Okoro? Overpaying Giddey?

[Red Larrivee]

Extending players who cannot stay healthy is terrible GMing. There was no reason to do extension in first place and just let him walk and let him choose his next team. My opinion. But we served like good rehab center instead basketball organization so I guess good for us?

But this is clear onfirmation that AKME doesnt value picks at all.

Your stance doesn't make sense. The entire reason we're here is because AK wisely extended Ball to a team friendly deal that didn't require anything other than bird rights.

If Ball was a free agent in a few days, he'd easily get somewhere between 8-11M of a team's NT MLE. So, why wouldn't you do that, especially if you know you could move him in the offseason and get something you like?

We can disagree about what they traded him for, but the decision to extend him was uncharacteristically excellent.

[MGB8]

Read on Twitter

Cavs are laughing so hard right now. Thanks Bulls for getting us under the 2nd apron next year (and possibl6 this year) without us having to give away draft capital and getting a useful player back!!!

I literally had a thread on their situation and how even Okoro’s contract is problematic.