Do the Bulls Have a Trade Partner in Atlanta?

With the 2023-24 season officially complete, the collective NBA consciousness has pivoted to offseason rumors (aka slop szn)! In the span of 48 hours since the 2024 NBA Finals concluded, the Chicago Bulls reportedly expressed interest in Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela, per Matt Moore of Action Network .

The Bulls eyeing Capela is an intriguing rumor in the sense that the 30-year-old is still a starting-caliber NBA center. The prospect of the Bulls signaling interest in acquiring Capela from the Hawks leads to questions regarding Nikola Vucevic's future as the team's starting center.

Nikola Vucevic vs. Clint Capela

What benefits would the Bulls stand to gain by trading Nikola Vucevic for Clint Capela? On-court, the impact of replacing Vucevic with Capela is likely nuanced. Both centers posted a Box Plus-Minus (BPM) of 0.1 (serviceable starter-level) in 2023-24.

Vucevic, as Bulls fans know, can impact the game positively with passing and occasional scoring bursts. However, the USC product delivered a sharp shooting regression this past season , logging a 54% true shooting percentage compared to his 59.4% mark in 2022-23.

On the other hand, Capela is a superior rebounder (22.4% rebounding percentage in 2023-24) and rim protector (5.1% block percentage in 2023-24) relative to Vucevic.

The Hawks' big man is also a lower usage rate center compared to Vucevic, so inserting Capela into the Bulls roster presents an opportunity to unlock additional scoring options for Coby White. Perhaps it also helps that Capela is a few years younger and has one less year left on his contract than Vucevic .

Bulls-Hawks Trade Rumblings

The emerging connection between the Bulls and Hawks becomes even more interesting when factoring in a new report from ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo that Atlanta is narrowing its 2024 NBA Draft focus with the No. 1 overall pick on Donovan Clingan, who's reportedly also a trade-up target for the Bulls.

What sort of deal can the Bulls and Hawks hammer out when the 2024 NBA Draft arrives? Will the two organizations partner together to reshape their big-man rotations for the near future?

Speculating further, is it possible the Bulls can help facilitate the Hawks' reported desire to deal either Trae Young or Dejounte Murray by offering either Zach LaVine or Lonzo Ball?

Young is an ex-Klutch Sports Group client and Murray remains, along with LaVine and Ball, a client of the agency founded by Rich Paul.

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