Proposed Trade Sends Bulls $54 Million NBA Champion Wing

Getty Harrison Barnes

The Chicago Bulls enter another offseason with a lot of questions and no clear answers. Among their questions is what they should do with Lonzo Ball. A proposed trade by Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes offers a solution for the problem at hand.

Hughes proposed a trade between the Bulls and the Sacramento Kings in an April 27 story in which the following would happen.

Bulls receive: Harrison Barnes

Kings receive: Ball

Hughes explained why Barnes would interest the Bulls.

“The Bulls have their own uncertainties with DeMar DeRozan’s free agency, but Barnes fills a need as a combo forward who can steady things on both ends. If Chicago doesn’t want to risk another lost season from Ball ahead of his free agency in 2025, Barnes would be a sensible return in this straight-up swap,” Hughes wrote.

Barnes won a title with the Golden State Warriors in 2015 and helped them reach the NBA Finals again in 2016. He has not come close to reaching such heights since leaving the Warriors the following offseason.

However, he has continued to get handsomely paid for his services. Barnes will enter the second year of a three-year, $54 million contract when the 2024-25 season starts.

Lonzo Ball is ‘Improving,’ says Arturas Karnisovas

Ball has not played a single NBA game since January 2022. Even worse, the details remain cagey on when he plans to come back for the Bulls. However, Bulls executive Arturas Karnisovas gave the latest on Ball while talking with reporters on April 20.

“We’re just going to wait and see his progression the next couple of months,” Karnisovas told reporters, per Yahoo Sports! Ryan Taylor. “He’s progressing well. Everything is looking with no setbacks. So we’ll see where he’s at in a couple of months.”

Karnisovas added that Ball is better physically while adding that they will wait to see where he is down the line.

“He’s improving,” Karnisovas said of Ball. “We’ll see where he is at next couple of months. There’s no setbacks, so we’ll see where he’s at in terms of on-court and the basketball side. So we’ll figure it out.”

Before his injury left him out indefinitely, Ball proved his worth to the Bulls. In 35 games, Ball averaged 13 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists while shooting 42.3% from three.

Billy Donovan Gave Encouraging Update on Lonzo Ball

Bulls head coach Billy Donovan gave details on where Ball’s recovery was before Karsinovas did. Donovan’s words made it sound like Ball’s progress was encouraging.

“He’s starting to run. I know we talked about last time, Some of the workouts had been, I think, really, really positive in terms of running, cutting, jumping, doing those things, that he’s progressed into that, responded well,” Donovan said via the Chicago Tribune’s Julia Poe on March 9. “Some of the things that the guys have shown me is he looks good moving.”

Ball’s potential return could be a game-changer for the Bulls. They were 27-13 before his injury knocked him out for the rest of the 2021-22 season. Since then, however, they have been stuck in no-man’s land, having missed the playoffs for the last two consecutive seasons.

Matt John covers the NBA for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Boston Celtics. A Massachusetts native, he has covered the NBA since 2018, with stops at FanSided, Basketball News and Basketball Insiders. More about Matt John