Chicago Bulls
Knee-jerk move: Trading Josh Giddey
In some ways, the argument could be made that the Chicago Bulls do need to get desperate. There are many that believe that the Bulls should do whatever it takes to trade both Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic by the NBA Trade Deadline. While that may or may not be the case, there is one other move that the front office could be considering - trading Josh Giddey. At least in my mind, this would be a huge mistake for the Bulls - especially considering that we haven't even seen Giddey play one full season in the system.
If the Bulls and Giddey are genuinely far apart in contract discussions, there could be a desire to explore his trade market over the next couple of months. However, that would be a bad look for the team and it could end up blowing up in their face. At least for now, Giddey may be one of the few positives that the Bulls have going for them. He's not a perfect player but he's a young, talented piece that could pay dividends in the future for them. For now, they should continue to develop him and get an extension done. Chicago should not make the knee-jerk move of trading Giddey before the deadline.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Knee-jerk move: Trading Max Strus
To be perfectly honest, with the way the Cleveland Cavaliers have been playing this season, there's an argument to be made that the team could or should look to trade Max Strus ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline. There's no question that Strus is a good player; I highly doubt there would be many who would push back against that. However, it's been pretty clear that the Cavs have been able to manage this season pretty well without him in the lineup. It could open the door for a trade if Cleveland absolutely needed to make another move.
However, I do believe it would be considered somewhat of a knee-jerk move. For as good as the Cavs have looked so far this season, I do believe that there will come a point this season in which the team will need Strus in a big way. Whether it will happen in the regular season or the playoffs, Cleveland is going to need Strus at some point. At least not for now, the Cavs should not be exploring trades for Strus. It could end up being a huge miscalculation if the Cavs were to end up pursuing such a deal.