{"id":109923,"date":"2024-11-30T13:33:15","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T18:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=109923"},"modified":"2024-11-30T13:33:15","modified_gmt":"2024-11-30T18:33:15","slug":"bulls-need-take-lonzo-ball-trade-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/30\/bulls-need-take-lonzo-ball-trade-block\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulls Need To Take X-Factor Off Trade Block"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the Chicago Bulls lost to the Boston Celtics in what was a rather close game, Bulls head coach Billy Donovan praised veteran Lonzo Ball<\/a>\u2019s shooting and defensive playmaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe steals, the disruption, the hands, knocking down his first couple threes,\u201d Donovan would tell reporters (h\/t Kyle Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times). \u201cEven if he missed those two shots, he still had a huge impact on the game<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donovan also lauded Ball\u2019s \u201cunselfishness,\u201d which has been key for all of their guards in what\u2019s a crowded backcourt. Of course, when it comes to Ball, his teammates are really just happy that he\u2019s able to play at all. It\u2019s not often that athletes make it out of a multi-year injury-related hiatus, especially not performing the way he has.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not exactly why \u2014if NBA insider Jake Fischer\u2019s report about the Bulls\u2019 willingness to trade him<\/a> is accurate \u2014Chicago should change course. However, it leads to the very reason why the Bulls would actually be better off holding onto the 27-year-old.<\/p>\n

Bulls Need To Take X-Factor Lonzo Ball Off Trade Block<\/h2>\n

If the Bulls can get useful asset in a Ball trade, be it a pick or player, Chicago obviously has motive to make a trade. Yet, the Bulls may be underestimating the impact that Ball has on the team\u2019s culture. In the long haul, his on-court and off-court habits could contribute to the team more than what they get for him in.<\/p>\n

Leading By Example<\/h3>\n

On the court, Ball\u2019s enhances the flow of the offense, bringing Bulls head coach Billy Donovan\u2019s vision of a run-and-gun offense<\/a> to life. In fact, Bulls center Nikola Vucevic<\/a> has recently spoken about Ball\u2019s understated impact. The two time All-Star cites Ball\u2019s combination of vision, basketball IQ, and passing ability as essential to their postseason success<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ball is also a superior defender to Josh Giddey<\/a>, who lacks his technique and instincts.<\/p>\n

Chicago might not be trying to make a playoff push this season. Having Ball on the roster is unlikely to be the deciding factor in whether or not they can. Nonetheless, they can still benefit from playing the right way and he helps them do that.<\/p>\n

Off the court, Ball\u2019s intangibles are exemplary with regard to his dedication to getting back healthy. If Ball is out there giving it his all when there\u2019s always a feeling that he\u2019s one bad injury away from having to shut it down for good, his teammates have no excuse not to. With that in mind, because he\u2019s liked and respected by his teammates, he may also add to the team\u2019s culture as a locker room leader.<\/p>\n

The Contract<\/h3>\n

Ball being on the final year of his four-year, $80 million contract is worth mentioning.<\/p>\n

As his salary will come off the books one way or another in 2025, the Bulls really don\u2019t have that much to consider. Unless the Brooklyn Nets or Atlanta Hawks wanted to completely absorb Ball into a trade exception<\/a>, they wouldn\u2019t get much financial relief from moving him before the deadline. Such a deal could be possible if they saw Ball as someone who could be a key depth piece this season and perhaps beyond. However, both teams are recalibrating as well, having gone from playoff contenders to rebuilds before they could say \u201cWilson.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furthermore, even if they were interested in Ball, they might prefer to wait until he becomes a free agent. There\u2019s no telling what kind of market he\u2019ll have just yet. Nonetheless, it\u2019s possible that they\u2019d get away with paying him the mid-level or minimum because of his injury history.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a route that the Bulls need to consider as well. They\u2019ve already shown a commitment to Ball that other teams might not have, so why give up on him now? If he\u2019s willing to sign an inexpensive contract, he should remain in Chicago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After the Chicago Bulls lost to the Boston Celtics in what was a rather close game, Bulls head coach Billy Donovan praised veteran Lonzo Ball\u2019s shooting and defensive playmaking. \u201cThe steals, the disruption, the hands, knocking down his first couple threes,\u201d Donovan would tell reporters (h\/t Kyle Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times). \u201cEven if he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":109967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,4,1608,6,62],"tags":[667,297,4774],"class_list":["post-109923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bulls","category-hawks","category-basketball","category-nets","category-nba","tag-lonzo-ball","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-rumors"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}