Chicago revolutionizes its starting five with important players, a team that, despite some terrible contracts, can hold its own in the East.
TRADES
The Sixers are trading P.George and the young McCain for K.Porter Jr, Naji, and 2srp. This trade allows Philadelphia to free itself from a long and cumbersome contract like P.George's in exchange for 2srp and, more importantly, two significantly younger players, one more offensively effective (now that Paul George is no longer in his prime) and the other more defensively solid. Obviously, no one gives away gifts to their opponents, so for this trade to happen, a sacrifice is needed: McCain. This, however, wouldn't be a particularly heavy loss, since this trade would free up cap space to more easily re-sign Grimes and, most importantly, this year's draft brings in VJ, who will fill the exact role McCain once had.
The Mavs are trading Gafford, Naji, and a srp for C.White's new contract. This trade gives Dallas a player to replace the injured Kyrie, but C.White would also be the ideal partner when he returns to the court and a backup when his contract expires, this move not only solves their current problem, but also a potential future one. This move obviously wouldn't come cheap, as in addition to the srp, you'd lose two solid rotation players in Gafford and Naji, on the other hand, it would also increase the Mavs' cap space, allowing them to re-sign P.J. and, with the addition of Flag, still giving Dallas a deep roster.
The Nets are trading Porter Jr for J.Smith, Z.Collins, Huerter and a frp. For Brooklyn, this would be the ideal conclusion to the trade that brought C.Johnson to Denver, which would see them cash in on the Nuggets' unprotected frp, Portland's protected frp, a young player like J.Smith, and two excellent rotation players with expiring contracts (whom they can decide whether to use to free up cap space or re-sign and trade next offseason).
The Grizzlies are trading Morant for Giddey, 2frp, 2srp, and two expiring rotation players. This trade is more complicated than the previous ones for two reasons: first, I don't know how much Memphis would be willing to trade Morant, and second, it's difficult to estimate Ja's true market value. That said, this trade allows the Grizzlies to acquire a young, strong player with significant room for improvement like Giddey, and to further increase their draft stock after the Bane trade. This could be the right time to trade Ja, before his situation deteriorates and becomes a problem; perhaps a change of scenery is what he needs to recover.
For the Bulls, these would be important moves that would demonstrate their desire to be competitive right away, without sacrificing the development of young players. However, there's a big unknown: the fitness of the various players arriving in Chicago. Is this risk really worth taking?
This would be the Bulls roster after the trades and the f.a.:
Guards: Morant, McCain, Brogdon, T.Jones, Ayo and Yuki.
Forwards: P.George, Buzelis, Okoro, Essengue, P.Williams and Phillips.
Centers: Gafford, Vucevic and Olbrich.
starting five: Ja - McCain - P.George - Buzelis - Gafford.