The Bulls are reportedly pursuing a trade to acquire Arron Afflalo from the Orlando Magic. According to Yahoo, Chicago would “assuredly” include either their 16th or 19th overall pick in the Draft as part of the package:
The Chicago Bulls are pursuing a trade for Orlando Magic swingman Arron Afflalo, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Afflalo, 28, has two years left on his contract – including an Early Termination Option (ETO) provision next summer – and front office executives believe the Magic are prioritizing a trade for Afflalo over working to extend his contract.
It is unclear how the Bulls’ pursuit of Afflalo would impact the franchise’s free-agent interest in New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony.
The Bulls are searching for shooting to surround the returning Derrick Rose, and Afflalo is coming off his best offensive season, averaging 18.2 points per game on 45.9 percent shooting.
Chicago owns the 16th and 19th overall picks in the draft, and assuredly one of those selections would be included in a possible package with the Magic. Orlando has the fourth and 12th picks in Thursday’s draft and a rapidly developing young core of talent, including guard Victor Oladipo and center Nikola Vucevic.
The Bulls have shown a strong interest in moving one of their top picks in a deal and have been open to trading the 19th overall pick for a future first-round selection, league sources said. The Bulls are trying to be careful to preserve salary cap space for July free agency and are leery of two rookie-scale first-round picks on the roster, sources said.
