NBA Rumors: The Chicago Bulls are expected to keep an eye on Anthony Davis this summer, as they should as they continue to collect assets
The Chicago Bulls may be lining up for a sweepstakes bidding war for prized All-Star forward Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans, who may or may not elect to shop their top players during the summer (depending what happens with Dell Demps).
On top of the Nikola Mirotic trade, the Bulls also traded for Noah Vonleh from the Blazers as part of the business side, absorbing contracts to meet league salary limits, and having a young power forward who used to be a top 10 lottery pick in Vonleh.
Per Sean Deveney of Sporting News, with the Pelicans stuck in a rut and with Davis’ free agency coming in two years, New Orleans will be at a crossroads during the summer. And depending on what happens with general manager Dell Demps, the Pelicans could elect to hit the reset button sooner rather than later.
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And that could mean an all-out bidding war for Anthony Davis.
"[via Sporting News]“A.D. is obviously a great player, but they’re stuck and his free agency is coming faster than you think. It is hard to operate under the gun with a situation like that, so it is something they’ll need to at least explore this summer. If Dell stays on, he is going to want to find ways to keep building and maybe even take a chance on keeping DeMarcus. But if Dell goes, there are four or five teams hoping hard for a fire sale.”"
At the moment, the Bulls have the 8th pick overall and either the 16th or the 17th pick in the 2018 first round.
With such picks, they could likely snag a really good player in the top 10, potentially someone like Miles Bridges, and steal a really good prospect at 16 or 17 in what is expected to be a deep draft pool.
With two likely top 16 picks in this year’s draft, the team’s young core will only grow. Over the last few seasons, the Bulls have compiled quite the group of young, promising players – Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, Denzel Valentine and Bobby Portis.
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If the Pelicans elect to shop Anthony Davis, which at this point would still come as a surprise to many, the Bulls might have enough young fire power to get in the bidding war.