Selecting seventh overall in Thursday’s NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls have been as active as any team in trade talks. It’s not that the downtrodden franchise is looking to change up its entire core roster. Instead, the team is attempting to acquire a pick that will land it one of the consensus top-four players in the draft.
More so than any other prospect, Chicago seems to be honing in on former Texas center Mo Bamba. In fact, the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson is reporting that the Bulls are interested in trading up to the No. 3 selection to select the big man.
Bamba himself also indicates that the interest is mutual.
“It’s mutual. I feel the same way about the organization and how I fit there,” Bamba told Malika Andrews of the Tribune. “It’ll be pretty interesting to see how things work out, but the workout itself was great.”
One of the four prospects most experts have ahead of the rest, Bamba has reportedly told the Memphis Grizzlies not to bother drafting him. Picking No. 4 overall, Memphis has also been in discussions with multiple teams about moving that selection along with Chandler Parsons to get out from under the veteran’s contract. With the cap room to take on Parsons’ contract, Chicago could potentially be a trade partner.
This would all be dependent on the Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks, picking No. 2 and No. 3 respectively, passing up on the big man. For their part, the Hawks might be willing to move down from the third pick to No. 7 overall if they can unload Dennis Schroder and his contract. Though, that’s pure conjecture on our part.
In any event, this is certainly something to keep an eye on as the draft takes place in Brooklyn on Thursday.