As expected, the phones were ringing for Alex Caruso on Thursday. And, equally as expec𒀰ted, the Cไhicago Bulls refused to do business.
To be fair, I guess I should say they refused to do fair business. Multiple reports indicated that the Bulls did take calls on players across their roster, but it sure sounds as if they weren’t open to doing much honest negotiating.
“Sources told me that the Warriors, today, had some conversations on Alex Caruso,” . “That’s a player they have value for, but the Bulls have had a high asking price on him. But the Bulls were at least open for conversations across their rosters, including Caruso. Some teams had some discussions with them on Caruso.”
There has been a plentiful market for Alex Caruso all season long. However, every time a report surfaced about that significant amount of interest, it came tied to comments about a borderline-absurd return demand from Arturas Karnisovas. With Caruso still sporting a Bulls jersey, it’s clear that wasn’t merely a negotiating tactic in the day leading up to the deadline.
also refere♈nces that the Warriors had spoken to Chicago about a potential Alex Caruso trade. He also provided even more information about those apparent talks, sharing that the Bulls had asked about 2021 No. 7 overall pick Jonathan Kuminga:
“In exploratory trade talks with the Golden State Warriors centered on Caruso, league sources said the Bulls inquired about Jonathan Kuminga’s availability. That was rebuffed, and the Bulls made clear in talks with all teams that they didn’t want to trade Caruso, especially for a package on perhaps other young pieces like Moses Moody, so they’d need to be floored by an offer to do so,” Johnson wrote after the deadline.
Look, if the Bulls want to ask about Kuminga, I guess that is their right. But it’s also the Warriors’ right to scoff in their face and ask for another offer. After a slow and dramatic start to the year, Kuminga has looked like a true emerging star. He’s averaging 20.9 points on 57.8 percent shooting from the field and 36.4 percent shooting from long range since the calendar flipped to 2024. There aren’t many played that the Warriors would trade Kuminga for at the moment, especially as they struggle to stay in the playoff picture.
One would think the Bulls would then pivot to asking about some of the other young assets on the Warriors. Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, and Trayce Jackson Davis are all intriguing 23-and-under players who have already shown flashes during their time in the NBA. The first two are former Top 19 picks with an above-average long-range shot. There is zero reason why a Bulls team stuck in the Play-In picture with few high-upside youngsters should NOT consider one (or more) of those players in a trade for a veteran. But that’s exactly what they did.
Johnson explicitly stated the Bulls didn’t want to consider any other package around young players, which is both frustrating and confusing. I think it heavily underscores the way this front office approaches trade negotiations. We heard similar lofty demands for a damaged and disgruntled Zach LaVine, which I have to imagine played a role in talks failing to advance at really any stage. I can only now guess what the Bulls were demanding from the Philadelphia 76ers when they reportedly inquired about DeMar DeRozan. We’ll take Joel Embiid and prime Allen Iverson or no deal!
Again, I don’t have a problem with the Bulls going into Alex Caruso trade talks hot. It can never hurt to ask in the NBA. But every NBA executive needs to pass the Art of Negotiation 101. Whether it be getting finessed on the Nikola Vucevic trade or coming up empty in three straight deadlines, I think we can say that Arutras Karnisovas and Co. continue to flunk that course.
