The Chicago Bulls and Denver Nuggets surprisingly have something in common.
While the two franchises are at opposite ends of the win spectrum, they each have a max player they’re willing to trade.
Chicago is not only willing, but desperate to part ways with Zach LaVine, but the road to a deal has been beyond frustrating.
Denver has been rumored to be shopping around Michael Porter Jr., who signed a five-year, $180 million rookie extension back in 2021.
Might the Nuggets and Bulls benefit from a swap of Porter and LaVine, with other pieces thrown in to make the money work?
If Denver wants to do anything consequential, its best option may be moving Michael Porter Jr. and his $35.9 million salary (plus two more years after this one at an average annual value of just under $40 million),” Hughes said.
“LaVine makes about $7 million more than MPJ this coming season, so Denver would have to find some other way to trim salary ahead of this hypothetical deal—perhaps by dumping Nnaji on a rebuilder with a pick swap attached.”
“Would that be worth it for LaVine? Maybe not, but Denver is among the league’s trickiest trade teams because of its second-apron restrictions and lack of picks.”
Chicago would rather not take back another huge contract in trading LaVine, but it’s become a ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ situation at this point for the Bulls with the LaVine market.
Who knows, maybe LaVine would provide Denver with the spark they need to make another Finals run, and Porter Jr. would no doubt be a nice piece in Chicago moving forward.
The Bulls are already terrible defensively, and Porter wouldn’t help with that problem, but he’s an interesting asset that they could flip for something else next year as they continue to construct the rebuild.
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