TL;DR
Bulls trade for Jalen Green/Jonathan Kuminga and build a fast-paced, athletic team with Josh Giddey at the point diming up the speedsters
Rockets trade in Jalen Green’s value for a better team fit in Coby White as well as some shooting off the bench
Warriors finally solve their Kuminga conundrum and acquire some quality depth for Curry’s twilight years
Pick Protections Details
Fanspo doesn’t have the ability to make detailed pick protections, so here’s how the pick protections in this trade would work.
The Bulls trade the rights to Portland’s top-14 protected 2026 1st. This pick is top-14 protected until 2028 and if not conveyed, turns into a 2028 2nd. Thus, if Portland makes the playoffs in ’26, ’27, or ’28, Houston would get their 1st. The West looks to continue to be fairly stacked for the foreseeable future and Portland is still a young team, however, I think there’s a good chance they will make the playoffs at least once in the next 3 years, so this pick gives Houston a fairly good chance at a mid-to-late 1st in the next couple years.
The Bulls also trade their own 2029 1st to the Warriors protected for picks 1-10. However, if the pick does fall into the protected range, it turns into a pick swap with Houston. In 2029, Houston owns the rights to the 2 most favorable of their own 2029 1st, Dallas’ 2029 1st, and Phoenix’s 2029 1st. If the Bulls’ 2029 1st falls in the top 10, the pick swap would trade the rights to Chicago’s 2029 1st to Houston in exchange for the second-most favorable between Houston, Dallas, and Phoenix’s 2029 1st.
Finally, Houston trades 2 unprotected 2nds to Chicago- one in 2026 and one in 2027. In both years, Chicago currently doesn’t have a 2nd round pick according to Fanspo.
The Bulls Perspective
New Core
Josh Giddey Jalen Green Matas Buzelis Jonathan Kuminga
the #12 overall pick
Also Ayo Dosunmu, Jalen Smith, Patrick Williams?
Coby White showed a lot of potential at the end of this season, but I think most people would agree that Jalen Green has more star potential. Meanwhile, Jonathan Kuminga is a budding young talent with star potential looking for a new home. Given the Bulls’ constant middling results, they’re unlikely to find a true star level talent in the draft, so their best bet is to acquire players with high upside who have found themselves on a team that doesn’t need what they have to offer and bet on that talent turning into something. That’s what they did with Josh Giddey, who revitalized his value with a fresh start on the Bulls last season. Maybe they can build the team of misfit toys.
It’s not hard to picture how these misfits fit together. Just imagine Josh Giddey throwing the ball up to Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, and Matas Buzelis on lob after lob after lob- not to mention the transition play. With the right offense based around cutting hard off-ball and constant movement, Green, Kuminga, and even Buzelis will inevitably be able to capitalize on advantages created in order to beat their defender off the dribble or dive to the basket for a backdoor pass from Giddey. The fast-tempo, high-flying offense at the very least will fill seats at the United Center and could potentially grow into much more. I’ve already come up with a tagline for this young athletic team- “The Running of The Bulls.”
This solves the Bulls’ current Coby White dilemma for a bit of a price, but I’m not sure there are many teams out there that would be willing to offer the Bulls a player of equal or greater value in return.
The Rockets Perspective
While the Bulls have the time to let Jalen Green develop and bet on his highest outcome, Green’s current inefficiencies seriously hamper the Rockets, especially given their rapid ascension into a serious playoff contender. Houston doesn’t have time to wait around hoping for the highest end outcome. You can’t take home-court advantage in the playoffs for granted- just ask the Grizzlies and Kings.
That being said, I think the Rockets should pursue other trade options first if they can. For instance, if Devin Booker becomes available, he should be their primary target. However, I don’t think a KD or Giannis trade makes sense for Houston. I think Houston is still 2-3 years away from true championship contention and I don’t think KD can carry them there in the next couple years. On the other hand, a trade for Giannis would gut the team entirely and would likely leave Houston with a core of Amen, Giannis, and Sengun, all of whom primarily look to score in the paint. Giannis has also had injury concerns during several of his last playoff appearances and he is over the hill as it were, so as great as he is, trading for him is still a gamble.
Meanwhile, with this trade, Coby White fills in for Jalen Green as a more efficient starting 2-guard while picking up backup point minutes when VanVleet is off the floor (and could potentially earn the long-term starting point guard position). While his upside may not be as high as Jalen Green’s, his fit on this team is much cleaner. This trade reinforces the team’s timeline while elevating their floor and filling in holes on the offensive end (which was the primary reason they lost in the playoffs) without giving up too much and losing the ability to make a superstar trade in the future.
New Starting Lineup
Fred VanVleet
Coby White
Dillon Brooks
Amen Thompson
Alperen Sengun
With Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, Kevin Huerter, Steven Adams (assuming he re-signs), Reed Sheppard, Cam Whitmore coming off the bench.
The Warriors Perspective
…is pretty obvious.
Given Coby White and Jalen Green’s fairly similar value at present, I think the Bulls pay a little much for the Houston part of this trade, however, White will be an unrestricted free agent after this coming season while Green is on a multi-year deal (albeit a little pricey). In addition, while Kevin Huerter fits Houston’s need for shooting, I don’t think he fits well within the team culture and his contract is overall still a negative asset.
I originally stumbled onto this trade idea while looking for shooting options for the Rockets, but I’ve fallen in love with this version of the Bulls. I would really love to watch this team.
Thank you for reading and I would really appreciate any feedback you may have. Let me know if you see any flaws in team construction or a mis-evaluation of the picks/players involved. I will look to improve upon this trade based on other’s ideas.