Realistic Deandre Ayton trade for Trail Blazers
The Chicago Bulls' rebuild is long overdue after seemingly finishing as a borderline eight seed every year since their moves to acquire their trio of DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Nikola Vucevic. They likely didn't maximize their trade value for coveted two-way guard Caruso, but they are headed in the right direction. Patrick Williams will return to Chicago on a five-year, $90 million deal. They also selected G League Ignite forward Matas Buzelis, No. 11 overall.
Buzelis could be of tremendous value after previously being linked to the Detroit Pistons at No. 5 but falling on draft day. However, their most promising piece of all is 24-year-old rising star Coby White. He had a breakout season, averaging 19.1 points, 5.1 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game on 45/38/84 shooting splits.
They still need a long-term center where Ayton could come into the mix. With this trade, Chicago would have a potential future starting lineup of:
PG: Josh Giddey
SG: Coby White
SF: Matas Buzelis
PF: Patrick Williams
C: Deandre Ayton
Similarly to Portland's rebuilding core, they would all be 25 years or younger.
The Blazers would get back their protected 2025 first-round pick, which they relinquished in the three-way trade headlined by Lauri Markkanen, involving Portland, Cleveland, and Chicago. The Blazers received Larrry Nance Jr. in exchange for the pick. Additionally, Dosunmu is 24 and an excellent two-way guard. He had a much-improved third year with the Bulls, averaging 12.2 points, 3.2 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game on efficient 50/40/81 shooting splits.
This trade would clear the way for No. 7 overall pick Donovan Clingan to get starting minutes at center and get back their pick from the Bulls. But, more importantly, they'd be adding yet another up-and-coming piece to add to their rebuilding core in Dosunmu.