The Miami Heat are 9-10. The Chicago Bulls are 9-13. Both teams are firmly in the middle of the pack – the worst place to be in the NBA – and in need of a shake-up. Hammering out of a path in a new direction can be hard, especially in the middle of a season, but maybe these teams can help each other.
According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, via The Stein Line, the Bulls have made nearly everybody on the roster available.
“No surprise, then, that Bulls executives, according to league sources, have been messaging to rival front offices that they are willing to discuss the majority of their roster in trade talks leading up to the Feb. 6 trade deadline. Most notably, sources say, Chicago has expressed a desire to move LaVine, Vučević and Ball.”
The Bulls have some things that could help the Heat and vice-versa. Some deals make a lot of sense on their face, while other hypothetical frameworks could be seen as extreme. We’ll explore the gamut in this space, starting with the most sensible deal and working our way up to the looniest idea.
3. Heat trade for a big man
Heat get: Nikola Vucevic
Bulls get: Duncan Robinson, Nikola Jovic
If the Bulls have accomplished anything this season, it’s establishing a pace-and-space identity. They rank first in pace and are taking the third-most 3-point attempts per game this season. Players like Duncan Robinson and Nikola Jovic fit that identity more than the 34-year-old Nikola Vucevic.
Robinson could help fill the wing in Chicago as a plus floor-spacer who doesn’t need the ball to be effective. Jovic is an intriguing prospect who, at 6-foot-10, can dribble, shoot and pass. He’s raw, but the rebuilding Bulls can be patient with his development.
Meanwhile, the Heat get needed frontcourt help with Vucevic. After a down shooting year a season ago, Vucevic is shooting 47.6% from deep this season. At 6-foot-10, 260 pounds, he would add size at the center position and allow Bam Adebayo to slide to power forward without sacrificing spacing.
2. Heat and Bulls swap point guards
Heat get: Lonzo Ball
Bulls get: Terry Rozier, 2030 pick swap
If the Bulls want to move off of the final year of Ball’s contract, multiple second-round picks or a first-round pick swap might be the best they can do for the injury-prone point guard. After having not played since 2021, Ball made his return this season but has already missed 16 of Chicago’s first 22 games.
If the Heat are willing to take a chance on Ball, he fits a lot of what they need next to Tyler Herro in the backcourt. When healthy, Ball is a plus defender who can make 3s and push the pace. He’s a smart player who can make plays for Herro and Adebayo, or play off of them when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands.
1. Jimmy Butler goes back to where it all began
Heat get: Zach LaVine, Dalen Terry, Julian Philips, 2025 first-round pick (via POR, top-14 protected), 2027 first
Bulls get: Jimmy Butler
Let’s get weird! If the Heat decide that the Jimmy Butler era is over, it might be difficult to find a landing spot before the trade deadline. Teams like the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks could be interested, according to reports, but what about Butler’s original team?
The Bulls could use a Butler deal to get off of Zach LaVine’s burdensome contract while giving fans something exciting for a few months. Butler can become a free agent this summer, or opt into a $52.4 million salary for next season. Either way, it’s less than the $138 million owed to LaVine over the next three years, including this season.
For the Heat, they acquire a 29-year-old LaVine who fits a new timeline based on the 27-year-old Adebayo and 24-year-old Herro. LaVine and Herro would immediately become one of the best 3-point shooting backcourts in the league and could complement Adebayo’s game well. The Heat also get intriguing prospects back in Dalen Terry and Julian Philips and a pair of draft picks for the trouble of taking LaVine’s contract off Chicago’s hands.