coldfish wrote:I thought I read that the Bulls wanted Aminu off the books and the Derozan trade offered that opportunity.
When you look at the Bulls monetary outlays for this season, its well spent money. Only really Coby sticks out as a misuse of funds. I think this was a big part of their plan. Use a pick to dump salary and then get a pick and no salary for Lauri.
If it was Aminu swapped in for Lauri, then the choice was:
DJJ + Portland pick + Cleveland 2nd
or
Aminu + Their pick
I don't think one of those packages is clearly better than the other. The Bulls pick has lesser protection and has a chance of being a better pick. It also ties up your flexibility to make a huge multipick offer for a star which might prove important down the road. The Portland pick is interesting because it probably projects to come in at 15-18 this year so it has more value in time value of hitting sooner if it conveys there. There is some significant risk with that selection if Portland ends up blowing it up (and they barely made the playoffs last year).
DJJ is a better than Aminu this year unless Aminu has a major turnaround but is still a fringe rotation player and doesn't really bring anything unique to the team that is a huge upgrade.
The Cleveland 2nd is meh, like all 2nds, but maybe a nice hedge if the Bulls lose a 2nd in tampering or just as a minor asset for later.
All in all, I could see desiring either of those packages more than the other.