Free agency doesn’t start until June 30, but with the NBA Draft starting on Wednesday, trade rumors are starting to heat up around the league. We’ve already gotten one trade in the books, as the Bulls sent Alex Caruso to the Thunder for Josh Giddey, but we’re sure to get even bigger deals as teams prepare for the next two days of the draft and free agency.
There’s a lot of fodder to keep track of, so here’s the latest making the rounds in the rumor mill as the NBA’s most chaotic time of the year kicks into high gear.
Bulls, DeRozan haven’t gained momentum on extension
Chicago has already made one major change to its roster after sending All-Defensive guard Alex Caruso to the Thunder for Josh Giddey. And maybe more change is on the horizon. There’s reportedly “little momentum” on an extension for DeMar DeRozan with the Bulls, per NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson, and if the two sides can’t come to an agreement, that makes the Chicago forward an unrestricted free agent, at which point he could entertain other offers. Throughout the season, DeRozan talked about wanting to be in Chicago, and that may still be true, but if the Bulls lose him for nothing this summer, it’ll be a bad look when they could’ve traded him back in February. There’s always the option of a sign-and-trade if he does want to play elsewhere, but that gets more complicated.
Bulls vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said at season’s end that change needs to happen, and maybe moving on from DeRozan is part of that change. Although he’s five years older than Zach LaVine, he’s been more durable over the past two seasons, and could make a big impact on a championship-contending team. And given the stale trade market for LaVine dating back to when Chicago made him available during the season, pulling off a sign-and-trade for DeRozan may be the better option in terms of recouping assets.
Jazz interested in Mikal Bridges
Add Utah to an endless list of teams interested in Brooklyn’s Mikal Bridges, per Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, a list that also includes the Rockets and Knicks. To this point, the Nets have shut down any offers regarding Bridges, as they prefer to build around him for the future, even if that isn’t their best option forward. For Utah, this interest signals that they want to compete instead of going the route of a rebuild despite that potentially being their best option. If they plan on going that route, they have veteran players to send to Brooklyn in Jordan Clarkson and John Collins, but this is only relevant if the Nets want to play ball. And so far, they’ve shown an unwillingness to do so in regards to Bridges. Utah may not want to hold its breath on this one.
Detroit a trade suitor for Tim Hardaway Jr.
The Mavericks have long been shopping Hardaway, but have yet to find any takers. He’s got an expiring contract worth $16.2 million for next season, so it’ll be more palatable now more than ever to take him on. Enter the Pistons, who are projected to have $64 million in cap space this summer, and have emerged as a trade partner to take on Hardaway, per Marc Stein. If a deal were to materialize, the Mavericks would reportedly be getting guard Quentin Grimes in return. Grimes is a solid young player, but this would be more of a salary dump than anything for the Mavericks, as one of their goals this offseason is to re-sign Derrick Jones Jr. By getting away from Hardaway’s contract and bringing in Grimes’ smaller salary, it would open up more of the midlevel exception to sign Jones with this summer.
