The Bulls should go all in for Zion

[dougthonus]

3 years at 40+M when he might play less then 60 games is going to lower what they can get from him.

His contract is effectively fully non guaranteed, so the money doesn't matter if you ever just stop believing in him. I agree the injuries will lower what they can get, but the contract is so team friendly that I think it puts a floor on how low it will go. If he like tears an achilles this year or something and you know he is toast, you can just get out of the rest of the deal.

I would tend to think it would cost more than Coby, our pick and matching salary, but who knows. I'd guess the Pels are ready to move on, but the price will be set at the most desperate team and I'd guess someone is more desperate than Coby and a late lotto pick.

It's only non guaranteed if he doesn't play at lest 51 games next season and 41 the years after.

Is that not more or less the same thing? I mean if Zion played 51 games, pretty low odds you are looking to waive him.

[MrSparkle]

Are we talking basically a salary dump? Sure.

If they give up any more picks, we’ll be trapped in play-ins with any common setback. Zion’s health is a high-risk gamble.

I was thinking they might try and off-load Dejounte’s huge salary with Zion. Atleast that would make sense, especially if they luck out with their 3rd generational #1 PF prospect in 10Y (Davis, Zion, Flagg?), to clear the books.

Murray is a horrible deal though. 2nd ACL of his career with 3Y max remaining. But the framework would have to be something like Vuc, Pat, Huerter, Carter for those two. Just try to rehab Dejounte, and dump his salary when possible.

[burlydee]

On average Zion plays 35 games a year. With our history, and ownership group, I can't envision trading Coby and a lottery pick to get him.

My offer would be Vuc, PWill (or Huerter) and the Portland pick (which should be a mid 1st rounder but could be 2 seconds). I reiterate he doesn't play and his personal life is a mess.

[Am2626]

On average Zion plays 35 games a year. With our history, and ownership group, I can't envision trading Coby and a lottery pick to get him.

My offer would be Vuc, PWill (or Huerter) and the Portland pick (which should be a mid 1st rounder but could be 2 seconds). I reiterate he doesn't play and his personal life is a mess.

Zion hasn’t had a major injury he has had to recover from (Ex: ACL, Achilles Tear) so I don’t think the previous injury history will dictate what it will be in the future. When he plays he is a Superstar and top 10 player in the league. It’s worth the gamble because the Bulls do not have a lot of assets to build on. If it doesn’t work then just tear it down and do a full rebuild.

[The Force.]

I don’t think we’ll have many picks left to trade after AK uses three of them to get Sabonis.

[NecessaryEvil]

Be easy to move on from Vuc and Coby as you have Collins, Smith, Ayo, and Huerter to step in and take their spots. Thing is Zion plays hard when he wants to and is near unstoppable. Don't know if Billy is the right coach for him to reach his potential.

I actually think Billy is the perfect coach for Zion.

He’d be good

Ime Udoka would be the perfect coach for him though.

With all that said, I’m glad the board has decided to come to my side. I’ve been dreaming about this move since early in the season.

[NecessaryEvil]

I don’t think we’ll have many picks left to trade after AK uses three of them to get Sabonis.

Do we really believe AK is going after Sabonis? Am I missing something?

[Bulliever2020]

Spoiler Alert: He is never going to stay consistently healthy

And I've always thought he was overrated anyways. He is not a #1 that is carrying you to a title.

Unless you can get him for literally nothing which isn't happening, I ain't buyin Zion

[KirkHinrich12]

I would be game for Zion. Then jump up to the number 2 and grab Harper. Not sure Pelicans are taking Coby and a 1st and whatever other filler. Some of these example offers are delusional.

[GuardianEnzo]

No way NO takes Coby, the 11/12 pick and an expiring for Zion. Never gonna happen.

[Red8911]

No way NO takes Coby, the 11/12 pick and an expiring for Zion. Never gonna happen.

NO would definitely be intrigued with that offer. Coby is young, can shoot/score, and has been playing like a star since the all star break. Along with a decent pick that’s not a bad offer.

Question is would the bulls want to go through with it lol. Coby is usually healthy, Zion isn’t.

[kodo]

If Zion was out due to a broken leg or something accidental might be worthwhile, but it's a very cause & effect of he's too heavy for his style of game and it's tearing his meniscus and eventually his ACL/MCL are next.
Even if he finds a way to stay healthy the solution will be similar to Rose, where he completely changes his game to save the impact on his knees. So we'll get a Zion taking a bunch of mid range shots and 3 pointers.

There's really no gamble here, he will tear his ACL/MCL or he'll have to change his game. I said this before he was even drafted. He plays like Derrick Rose except he's 290 lbs.

Save our draft picks. One turned into Matas, and we could have used the one that became Wagner. And we're not getting him without some picks going to NOP...Even Ingram got a pick.

[GuardianEnzo]

No way NO takes Coby, the 11/12 pick and an expiring for Zion. Never gonna happen.

NO would definitely be intrigued with that offer. Coby is young, can shoot/score, and has been playing like a star since the all star break. Along with a decent pick that’s not a bad offer.

Question is would the bulls want to go through with it lol. Coby is usually healthy, Zion isn’t.

It doesn't matter. The issue is that the best case scenario with Coby is a good complementary player on a contender. The upside with Zion is an actual star. Zion's career PER is 25.1 - Coby's is 13.4. Zion's BPM is 4.9 (7 this season), Coby is -1.5. Those stats aren't everything but they do tell a story.

I like Coby - he's an improving player and seemingly has some leadership skills. But Zion is much, much better when he plays. Coby is not the centerpiece of a Zion trade.

[burlydee]

On average Zion plays 35 games a year. With our history, and ownership group, I can't envision trading Coby and a lottery pick to get him.

My offer would be Vuc, PWill (or Huerter) and the Portland pick (which should be a mid 1st rounder but could be 2 seconds). I reiterate he doesn't play and his personal life is a mess.

Zion hasn’t had a major injury he has had to recover from (Ex: ACL, Achilles Tear) so I don’t think the previous injury history will dictate what it will be in the future. When he plays he is a Superstar and top 10 player in the league. It’s worth the gamble because the Bulls do not have a lot of assets to build on. If it doesn’t work then just tear it down and do a full rebuild.

He's played over 60 games twice in 6 years. He struggles with weight. He has chronic knee and lower body problems they simply do not disclose. I have no idea how you draw these conclusions.

[eierluke]

On average Zion plays 35 games a year. With our history, and ownership group, I can't envision trading Coby and a lottery pick to get him.

My offer would be Vuc, PWill (or Huerter) and the Portland pick (which should be a mid 1st rounder but could be 2 seconds). I reiterate he doesn't play and his personal life is a mess.

Having 2nd thoughts: we should no go for guys who's "personal life is a mess" for whatever price. This could be contagious to team chemistry.
It could be just bad luck - but more likely is that he's still a child in a mens body, who had been hyped too early (highschool Jr.). Probably the reason as well that he does not get his talented body in shape ... let's just keep our hands off here

[Dez]

I would happily include Coby in the deal for Zion as I think getting another high utilization scorer would likely have a similar impact to adding Zach back to the roster. There won't be enough shots to go around. Coby does the least without shooting of our 3 core guys. Also, we'd benefit by inserting a guy like Ball into the starting lineup (or Jones if we keep him or even Huerter). It would be an ideal "sell high" move on Coby. That said, I'm not sure NO has a need for a guy like Coby with their guard line-up. Alternatively we could try to turn Coby into picks to throw into the deal. PWill might be the sort of reclaimation project that could be a positive asset in the deal. Coby/PWill/Filler/Por 1st would be a great deal, but probably need to add another 1st.

Another guy I'd covet from NO if they would consider it would be Herb Jones. He is an elite defender, although like many of those guys, he has durability questions (which might make him obtainable).

How about this deal for above:

Draft night deal of our Pick, our '26 Pick, Por 1st, Coby, PWill, Vuc for Zion/Herb? $ work according to ESPN.

The only "big" give is our '26 pick (and Coby, but per my prior note, his value is much lower to us if we have Zion). Jones and Ball provide our POA defense. I would be happy to roll with Collins/Smith with that line-up.

The Pelicans hang up the phone, they aren't including Herb Jones as well for that mediocre package.

[WesPeace]

3 first round picks plus White, Vuc and PWill isnt mediocre hehe, its freaking overpayment because of risk.. 2x 1st rounders max alongside White and PWill or Ball is enough. If they dont want it, f... it!

risk outweights potential reward

Starting 5 with Giddey, Huerter, Zion, Matas and new def.C would otherwise be solid foundation for future.

[League Circles]

I'd consider trading for Zion, but not sure he's a good match with Giddey.

[Am2626]

On average Zion plays 35 games a year. With our history, and ownership group, I can't envision trading Coby and a lottery pick to get him.

My offer would be Vuc, PWill (or Huerter) and the Portland pick (which should be a mid 1st rounder but could be 2 seconds). I reiterate he doesn't play and his personal life is a mess.

Zion hasn’t had a major injury he has had to recover from (Ex: ACL, Achilles Tear) so I don’t think the previous injury history will dictate what it will be in the future. When he plays he is a Superstar and top 10 player in the league. It’s worth the gamble because the Bulls do not have a lot of assets to build on. If it doesn’t work then just tear it down and do a full rebuild.

He's played over 60 games twice in 6 years. He struggles with weight. He has chronic knee and lower body problems they simply do not disclose. I have no idea how you draw these conclusions.

What exactly do the Bulls have going for them? They are in purgatory hell. They have no draft capital to build off of and their best player is Coby White. Struggling with weight is a choice. Either he takes the steps to maintain his peek physical shape or he doesn’t. If he keeps his weight down then he probably isn’t dealing with the chronic injury history. He is an elite talent and is a star when he plays. If the Bulls actually had something to protect then yes maybe you don’t take this gamble. They really need to rebuild and if this doesn’t work out then it forces the Bulls to do so and stop taking half measures.

[PJSteven22]

I'd consider trading for Zion, but not sure he's a good match with Giddey.

Spoiler he’s not