The Chicago Bulls trade Patrick Williams to the Portland Trail Blazers
Portland Trail Blazers
Like with the Hawks trade, this deal benefits both Dame’s timeline and the future of the Portland Trail Blazers. In this swap, they give up a young talent at a loaded position in Anfernee Simons for a promising prospect at a position of need in Patrick Williams. While Williams’s development has been disappointing so far, he has proven to be every bit the wing defender that made him such a highly coveted player in the 2020 NBA Draft. His offense leaves a lot to be desired, but he’s shown the ability to knock down open 3-pointers.
Even if he fails to grow his game any further, Williams will still be a perfect complementary 3-and-D piece next to Dame or the Blazers’ young backcourt of the future. Alex Caruso replaces the guard depth that Portland’s sacrificing in this deal and adds a versatile point-of-attack defender to the roster.
Getting back their own 2024 first-round pick gives Portland the flexibility to either blow it up this year and endure another tanking season in order to maximize their lottery chances or make additional trades to capitalize on the remainder of Dame’s prime by unlocking the full selection of all of their future first-round picks in deals.
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are teetering on the edge of a core detonation. It would behoove the franchise to bite the bullet and prepare for the next era sooner rather than later. While it might seem backward to trade away a 21-year-old premier prototype wing that was the fourth-overall pick three years ago ahead of a rebuild, this trade would still benefit the Bulls’ future.
In Anfernee Simons, they grab a promising prospect with legitimate first-option potential on offense. On the other hand, Patrick Williams looks much more like Jae Crowder than the next coming of Kawhi Leonard, as his nickname, “the Paw,” would suggest. Jabari Walker gives them someone who can replicate Williams’s 3-and-D production and could grow into more than that.
Not only do they add a top-tier young talent in Ant, but the Bulls also add to their collection of draft picks in this deal. Rather than wait for the lottery-protected selection that Portland owes them to convey — one that could take several years if the Blazers move off of Damian Lillard — Chicago adds a guaranteed pick in 2025, which also happens to have a better-projected class than 2024.
Even if the Bulls are committed to competing with DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, Anfernee Simons should be better suited to help them do that than Patrick Williams now and in the near future.