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Tuesday, December 24, 2019

What the Cavs' Clarkson trade means for the Bulls - NBCSports.com

The first trade domino of the 2019-20 NBA season has officially fallen. The Cleveland Cavaliers traded guard Jordan Clarkson to the Utah Jazz, as first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski. 

The trade is an intriguing one as Dante Exum is still a young player at 24-years old and is on a deal (two years left at $9.6M per season) that could turn out to be a bargain should he approach his full potential. 

The Bulls have multiple reasons to be interested in this transaction.

Not only did the first trade of the 2019-20 regular season involve one of the Bulls' division rivals in Cleveland, but it also is their first look at what the trade market for a backup guard could look like. Over 29 games this season, Clarkson is averaging 14.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game on 44.2% shooting from the field and 37.1% from 3-point range.  The 3-point percentage is the second-best of Clarkson's career. In his last game for Cleveland before getting traded, Clarkson put up a season-high 33 points on 70.6% shooting from the field in a win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Chicago doesn't have any players on their roster who have a skill set similar to that of Clarkson outside of Zach LaVine and rookie Coby White—both of whom are highly unlikely to be involved in any trade talks (if there are any) to begin with. But it should at least pique the curiosity of Gar Forman and John Paxson that the Cavaliers received two second-round picks in the deal on top of the services of Exum. The trade also created a trade exception for Cleveland and helped them get even further below the luxury tax. 

The Bulls have dealt with the absence of starting small forward Otto Porter Jr. by plugging Kris Dunn into the starting lineup and the combination of his aggressive defense and the length of starting guard Tomas Satoransky (6-foot-7) have allowed the Bulls to have the second-best defensive rating in the league (101.4) over 11 December games.

Because of how important Dunn is to the Bulls at the moment, it is unlikely he gets dealt. But Clarkson's return package for Cleveland signifies that Dunn, who is is second in the league in total steals (62), could net a significant package for the Bulls.

All of the players signed this offseason were eligible to be dealt as of December 15, so players like Thaddeus Young and Satoransky can now also be used in trades. The Bulls have been playing well as of late (6-5 in their last 11 games), so any movement from them on the trade front looks unlikely at the moment. But this was the first trade in the NBA since the Russell Westbrook-Chris Paul deal, so a flurry of movement could be on the horizon.

The Bulls get their first matchup with the (slightly) new-look Cavaliers on January 18 in Chicago, which can be streamed on the MyTeams app by NBC Sports. 

Attention Dish and Sling customers! You have lost your Bulls games on NBC Sports Chicago. To switch providers, visit mysportschicago.com. 

Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Bulls easily on your device.

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December 24, 2019 at 08:51AM
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What the Cavs' Clarkson trade means for the Bulls - NBCSports.com
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