The deal
Bulls get: Rights to Milovan Rakovic
Magic get: Forward Anthony Randolph, two second-round picks (most favorable of Chicago and Portland's second-round picks in 2015 and 2016)
Chicago Bulls: B+
This specific trade grades out well, since the Bulls paid a relatively low price to be rid of Randolph's $1.8 million salary, which they needed to make room for signing both Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic. The perplexing part remains why Randolph spent a couple weeks on the Chicago roster at all. There was no reason the Bulls had to include him in their draft-night trade with the Denver Nuggets for Doug McDermott; apparently taking Randolph was part of the cost of doing business despite the fact that giving up the 16th and 19th picks for the 11th pick was already a high price for Chicago to pay.
Even after signing Channing Frye and Ben Gordon as free agents, the Magic had nearly $12 million in cap space, putting them about $5 million below the salary floor. In exchange for using some of that space on Randolph -- who could simply be waived, according to Sam Amick of USA Today -- Orlando will get a couple of extra second-round picks.
The picks the Magic get are unlikely to fall high in the second round, since the Bulls only have their own second-round picks and those from the Portland Trail Blazers the next two seasons, but they still have some value.
|