Chicago Bulls trade Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey

Chicago Bulls trade Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey

[Music] hi everybody welcome into the Bulls Talk podcast brought to you by Toyota Let’s Go Places this is a emergency edition of the Bulls Talk podcast the Bulls have made a trade uh they’ve traded our friend and defensive uh second team Alex cruso to the Thunder for Josh giddy this is a straight player for player swap KC can you confirm there is no draft picks involved at all in this deal I’m told none but I have not seen an official release from the team but uh at this point I don’t I think it’s a straight up one for one trade uh there’s a a lot to kind of unpack here um I’m gonna do the Bulls Talk podcast challenge of say something nice about Josh giddy so let me let me at least talk about the positives about Josh giddy he is not without any value um he’s got decent size at 68 he’s young he’s going to be 22 by the start of next season so he’s got a lot of room to develop he’s a plus rebounder pretty good rebounder and he’s a decent playmaker good passer very good passer um depending on how the Bulls intend to use him he could kind of play that point forward role um and be pretty decent as a playmaker um and as a rebounder uh that’s the positives with uh Josh gidy now here are the negatives um he is a poor shooter um he is poor off ball if he doesn’t have the ball in his hand he’s not really a willing shooter and not a good shooter when he does get a shot up um and he’s a minus Defender trending bad to very bad on defense which is a complete 180 of what you gave up in Alex kuso um he also has been kind of in inconsistent in his three years in the league he took a step back uh in year three his most recent season from year two part of it was his minutes his playing time went down and the other real big concern is from a thunder standpoint he was nearly unplayable in the playoffs and got just spot minutes in the MAV series uh getting barely 10 or 12 minutes a game towards the end of that series um so those are the negatives in regards to Josh Giddy and there’s some off the court stuff we which we won’t get into um but in terms of purely on the court um the the fit with the bulls is going to be a kind of a serious consideration in question um so let me start with you Casey and just kind of get your overall feelings on the trade overall and and and as everything went down within the last few hours well if you if you look at just a trade one for one obviously it’s clearly a step back so to me what I just wrote at NBC Sports chicago.com is rather than judging the trade I mean you certainly can judge the trade on a St as a standalone trade I mean the Bulls are going to lose every time um but you gotta wait to see how the rest of the offseason plays out to me and and to perhaps give it broader context um this to me certainly signals it the trade will get worse in my eyes if if this is the only thing they do and it’s they think they’re just going to remain competitive by adding a potentially Dynamic floor leader um but if they continue what to me on the surface looks like kind of a step towards a retool if not a rebuild then I’m gonna maybe like it a little bit more because as you mentioned he is Young and has quite a bit of potential as a as a floor leader um I mean look when you trade somebody as identifiable to your culture Alex Caruso um you know you’re you’re serious about enacting change but I would also say you know it’s clear that part of the reason they made the trade was they didn’t want to extend a 30-year-old Alex Caruso this offseason they weren’t under obligation to do so but letting him H unrestricted free agency next year would have been not a good move so if you’re finally going to move off Alex Caruso you probably could have gotten more value for him as we talked about ad nauseum on this very podcast either in the February 2024 trade deadline or certainly at the February 2023 trade deadline and so it’s an example of them kind of trying to course correct maybe a little bit too late but let’s see what what else um they have in store this offseason before we before we fully judge it but yeah it’s a one for one trade without picks attached I don’t like that I also one other thing I don’t like about it I don’t like that you immediately start you’re on a contract clock with a player immediately again I mean you either actually to you either have to hit an extension with Josh giddy by the start of next season on a rookie scale contract extension or you’re in restricted free agency game again next summer as you will be this summer with Patrick Williams so I like trading guys where you have cost control for a little bit and they don’t have that with Josh well they have it in the sense that he only be restricted free agent next offseason but you’ve got a you you started the contract clock with a player immediately and I don’t like that aspect of the trade either I love this trade for the Thunder like it’s it’s a great fit for them Caruso all upgrades their defense they’re already a very solid defensive team with uh SGA and Dort U you add Caruso to that mix we all know about the attributes he brings on the defensive side of the ball he’s worked very hard to improve his shooting especially in his Corner threes situation I love this for Oklahoma City I think this is certainly one of the moves they had to make to upgrade this is a clear upgrade for them to then potentially next year in the playoffs make that even deeper playoff run than they had this past season um so I love this for them for the Bulls um it’s it’s really tough for me to accept the fact there were no picks involved like if if you are making a trade with Oklahoma City and the just Treasure Trove of draft picks Sam pry has Sam pry goes home sits on his couch and there’s a second round draft pick coming out of the cushions you have so many picks available from that standpoint I find it hard to accept that they didn’t get at least one second rounder in addition to Giddy as part of this deal now it’s tough to evaluate because we sitting here right now don’t know what other offers the Bulls we’re looking at today over the past week um so you can’t evaluate what they could have done instead I just find it really hard to believe that they couldn’t entice Oklahoma City to get a second rounder or first rounder out of this um and the fact that there were no picks involved to me I think you’re absolutely right in terms of context this probably signifies that there are going to be other moves made in the upcoming weeks uh certainly in this week to two week stretch which is going to be critical to this Bulls franchise uh but at the same time because there’s no draft Capital involved you can evaluate this trade right now you could you know whether or not the context helps with other moves and what positions and how they’re going to use giddy is important but as of right now with one toone player swap I I I don’t see how anyone can sit here right now and go the Bulls got the better end this trade yeah and also we also didn’t even get to the Lonzo ball aspect of this because this to me certainly signals some pretty underwhelming confidence that Lonzo ball you know can be and we all knew that you know the first of all the return itself is going to be arduous and difficult but you know if he is able to come back to me this trade signifies that they don’t ever think he’ll obviously regain the level that he was at before because you’re you you’ve added a floor in in giddy now I don’t want to comp the players at all because giddy as you mentioned is not a plus Defender and lonzo’s an elite Defender Lonzo ball is also an elite three-point shooter I will say and I wrote this in my column you know Lonzo ball at one point was a poor three-point shooter and completely remade his shot to become an elite three-point shooter so Peter Patton your table is ready it’s time to go to work with Josh giddy because uh you’ve got a project on your hands and if the Bulls are um you know high on giddy moving forward you’ve gotta obviously turn him into a better three-point shooter but yeah it’s it’s it’s positive in the sense the Bulls recogniz they they they did not make they finally got something for an asset but it it it still is a little troubling that you know they trade their one of their best assets if not their best asset for something you know so little in return I mean giddy’s a promising player got a lot of potential but um you’d like to see the Bulls get a little more value than for for Alex Kusa we less than a month ago did a podcast about the Bulls path for getting back into contention and my very first thing was trading Alex cruso not like this that this isn’t the deal I wanted um I just it’s really kind of like trying to like process getting this deal I saw it on my timeline my initial reaction was this is a fake trade like my initial reaction was that WJ got hacked and this is a fake deal wow you really don’t like this trade I just it just just I I think I’m probably a little bit higher on giddy than you are I I I know that I can tell you that the Thunder organization um they they still believe in in giddy um they just you know with the emergence of Shay you know ascending the level he has as you mentioned before giddy needs the ball in his hands to be effective um another there’s so many obviously Ripple effects to any move but this one another one is it’s like this certainly to me gives dear Rosen the perfect out you know like yeah I know I said I on her side here but they’re rebuilding now and you know toar likes the ball in his hands a lot giddy’s ineffective unless he has the ball in his hands I mean it’ll be interesting to see like I said I’m just fascinated to see what’s coming next because if if this is all they had planned no bueno no bueno so let me at least say this about giddy he has what so many players of the 2021 draft class have and then so many players who are four years or less in the league He’s got potential I I don’t think it’s fair of anyone of us to say that a 21y old is going to be as good as he’s going to be right now there is significant work he has to put in specific to his jump shot so that he is not a liability off ball he does have some good things he brings to the table as a playmaker and as a rebounder and if the Bulls use him in that point guard slot I think there’s development there and I think there is hope that a year from now two years from now he does improve on his three-point shot I mean at 33% um it’s not a horrible three point shooter but it’s also average to slightly below average especially at the position he’s playing he also doesn’t get to the line a lot I mean he’s he’s not he’s not aggressive he’s not a dynamic offensive player other than other than his CT vision and his passing ability um and and um he’s he’s he’s he can be very good in transition he’s a great rebounder he he can grab it and go he can grab it and go so that sense he he is similar to to Lonzo he I I you know many times highlights where he grabs it goes throws a Sublime pass yeah let’s not let’s not act like Josh giddy’s a bad player he’s not a bad player um it’s just um you know it’s a bit underwhelming getting this return for Caruso that I think that’s you know if they if the Bulls were using the midlevel to sign Josh giddy like I’d be fine with that i’ okay depending on what else they had on the roster I’d be fine with that it’s just it goes back to to what we really talk about earlier this week it’s about letting your assets depreciate to the point in which you get little in return for them now they may let the Rosen walk in free agency there is no sign in trade and you let the Rosen walk and you get nothing in return and you have your best player in your roster off the roster for next season um I certainly think Caruso is not part of this Bulls team’s long-term plans given that they aren’t going to contend or even be a strong playoff Contender within the window that they have cruso under contract so I get moving off of him and kind of rebuild retool whatever you want to call it on the Fly and just kind of reset the clock on what this team is going to be um it’s just the the the underwhelming return for kuso there are a couple there a couple different impacts on this I’m G to first start with something that you and I had brought up uh on kuso being attached as an asset to possibly move off Zack LaVine that is obviously not going to happen now that Caruso is a a one- for one Trail trade with Oklahoma City so in your mind what does this say about the likelihood or not likelihood that Zack LaVine gets traded well I can tell you that my reporting today leads me to believe that the Bulls are pretty active in some trade discussions for Zack LaVine but to your point um and I mentioned some teams that I know for sure they’ve I don’t know if it’s it propos to come back but I know that they’ve proposed um to these teams um for sure Utah Jazz Philadelphia 76ers Orlando Magic and um it’s been a long day there was one other one um Sacramento Sacramento Kings thank you so that’s four um but look to your point about you know we we speculate about attaching Caruso to LaVine I mean if Caruso’s gone are they going to have to attach iio to LaVine I mean you know I really still think you are gonna have to incentivize a team by attaching an asset to Zach so you know that would be a tough because right now I like the potential of the back of a back court especially if you’re entering like a soft rebuild retool what have you of Kobe IO and giddy but if you have to attach IO to Zach that I I wouldn’t like that at all then would like to GID he trade even less you know so I don’t know man well it’s hard to do these emergency podcasts uh because in a vacuum neither of us really love this move but let’s wait and see how more things play out I’m sure we’ll be doing more emergency podcast this offseason I can guarantee you that uh and hopefully we like those moves more than we do this one uh let me ask you this question then specific not about necessarily being traded but how do you see the addition of giddy to this roster knowing that he does need to have the ball in his hands to really succeed and be in the best position to succeed how do you think that’s going to impact both Kobe and IO specifically well if they’re both still here I mean you know Kobe made tremendous strides and growth as on the ball uh player last season I mean obviously he had a spectacular season most improved player finalist um I do still think you know know he can be impactful in either role and he certainly will still be in plenty of situations where he’s on the ball I think I all along thought his greatest impact is as an off the ball catch and shoot player you know that’s just where I think he’s most lethal um so yeah I mean IO is just one of those guys you know that is gonna be solid in whatever role you put in but yeah it’s another example of where they’re going to change Kobe’s role they you know probably told him to continue building on what he built on last season and now he doesn’t project to be in that same role because Josh G projects to be the starting point guard um so yeah that’s that’s that’s another wrinkle to this um you know getting back to dear and needing the ball in his hands I will say I mean Demar played very very well in that first half season with Lonzo Ball but I will say what Lonzo Ball’s so great at is he’s an elite shooter so he creates spacing and he gets off the ball quickly giddy to me is more of a guy that kind of needs to be in pick and roll and have the ball up Court to kind of have his court Vision um fully realized so I don’t know man right on on quick quick reaction It’s seems like a little bit of a clunky fit but we’ll see how it plays out I I I I’ve never been a fan of these immediate analysis things I think you need to let things play out because these are quick hot takes and yeah on the surface neither of us love this trade but let’s give it some time see how it plays out see what other moves are coming so I I think that is important to put in context of we talk about giddy’s fit on this roster the roster as we look at right now on June 20th is not going to be the same roster two weeks from now it’s not you get through the draft you get through free agency certainly the first few days of free agency this roster on July 2nd could look drastically different uh and so when it talks think about fit I I will say I do not see a viable fit with giddy D rozan and V on this roster together the spacing with that Trio is horrible it is absolutely horrible so I I will like you reserve my overall grade for what I’m giving this trade and how it works for the Bulls until weeks from now and then we can revisit it because this could certainly be a signal that there are more moves to come whether it is a Zack LaVine trade or what they expect to happen in free agency with DAR D rozan what they do in the draft there are a lot of pieces that have to be put in place uh for me to truly judge okay how does giddy fit on this roster but when you look at the roster as it is right now the last thing this team needed was more guards and so so you you certainly could say well giddy’s going to play you know a three um with this roster but he’s got the ball in his hands well then then who are who are the other guys next to him playing the back court that are going to space the floor because you’re not getting getting it from a d rozan playing a four you’re not getting it from V playing the five the way he shot last season um it’s it’s Kobe and somebody else in the back court like I’m trying to like kind of talk through my head how this is going to work and how I think I might see this fit I don’t I don’t see the fit with this current roster but that being said you know the roster could look very different um last thing for you KC um we are certainly approaching the draft approaching free agency for d rozan for um P will we have a reports that were not likely to get uh Andre drumond back on this roster and we also know that Tory Craig has a player option um which I don’t think he’s going to exercise I think he become an under restricted free agent what what’s your opinion on any of that any of what what was the question other than I guess I guess number one Tory Craig do you expect him to exercise his player option or do you expect him to be a free agent and likely not be on this roster next Seas I think he’ll I think he’ll be a free agent and I mean the the reports of Drummond I mean we’ve been writing for All Season I know but he he surpris he surprised us last season when he when he picked up his player options so you know he’s he he marches kind of to his own drum so like let’s see how that play but he it will be an unrestricted free AG doesn’t have a deal next year doesn’t have an option so and the Bulls are limited in what they can give him because of the bird rights and salary cap and want to think at a time okay let’s this was an emergency podcast about the trade we’ve already done a podcast today okay so so let’s let’s let’s close it with this KY uh I always like in these situations uh to give two things to our our fans our viewers and our listeners uh something to be concerned about but something to give them hope give give me the give me a reason to be hopeful for the future after this trade uh if you can pull off um keeping the backourt intact of Kobe white aumu and Josh K the back court rotation of those three I then I think you have hope if you’re attaching one of those in a Zack LaVine trade as an asset I that’s not a hopeful thing to me now obviously you know we’re going to te Leaf readed into who they do what they do in the draft um and if they draft a guard my T LEF immediately will be like all right now they’re definitely attaching a guard as an asset to the Zack LaVine trade because they don’t need another guard but maybe it’ll be a best player available situation so I don’t know that’s that’s hopeful to me the all three of those guys have potential to be a dynamic back court together um a concern would be um that this causes demard Rosen to walk in uh unrestricted free agency for nothing because that’s not a good thing for the Bulls they are asset poor and that would be a bad thing so that would be my main concern sure it would have been nice to get a draft asset in Return part of this deal something would have been good because the the the cupboards are bare at the advocacy Center um so overall my initial reaction my instant reaction to this deal is the thunder get an A plus and the Bulls get a D minus uh for this trade but with the reservation to change that grade for the Bulls depending on what else happens in these next few weeks there will be a lot to react to uh this has been the Bulls Talk podcast uh brought to you by Toyota Let’s go places I am Kevin Anderson this has been Casey Johnson please check out K’s work on Twitter SLX kcj hoop his work is all over NBC Sports chicago.com and the NBC Sports Chicago app uh look for more instant reaction podcasts in the next couple weeks there there may be some coming soon certainly we’ll recap and preview the draft uh we will also do a morning of free agency early morning podcast to react to anything the Bulls uh do on the night of the 30th as when free agency does truly start now officially um and it might be a very active first 12 hours in free agency so we appreciate everybody listening everybody watching like And subscribe give us your thoughts about the deal um scream into the void if you need to uh I have a feeling that the comments will not be kind uh to to this deal they’ve not been kind so far on Twitter I tell you that uh but we’ll see what happens in the next couple weeks so for KC I’m Kevin thanks everybody go blls all right all right now that’s over I want to tell you the three keys to being a real Chicago sports fan it takes guts sacrifice and downloading the NBC 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The Bulls made a bold move by trading Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder Josh Giddey (1:00). K.C. Johnson explains why he thinks this trade is a step back for the team (3:23). What does this move mean for Lonzo Ball’s future in Chicago (8:36)? Kevin Anderson breaks down Giddey’s game (12:30) and discusses the impact on the trade will have on Zach LaVine (14:46) and Coby White (16:20). Plus, they break down how Giddey will play alongside DeMar DeRozan (17:38).

#ChicagoBulls #AlexCaruso #OklahomaCityThunder #JoshGiddey

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