The Bulls shocked the NBA world on Thursday afternoon by trading All-Defensive guard Alex Caruso in exchange for point guard Josh Giddey, as first reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Caruso quickly developed into a fan favorite in Chicago, winning games for the team down the stretch with unbelievable defensive plays and clutch shots. Giddey's star faded in Oklahoma City, and this represents a fresh start for him.
Here's which team fared better in the swap.
MORE: Full Josh Giddey trade details
Bulls trade grade
Give the Bulls credit for finally picking a direction and realizing that their team was going nowhere. They will get a lot worse with the loss of Caruso, who was holding together their defense.
The Bulls are badly in need of a retool. Getting the 21-year-old Giddey in exchange for a 30-year-old Caruso makes sense from that perspective. But is this really all they could receive back? Reporting is still coming in, but this is being presented currently as a one-for-one swap, with the Bulls getting no draft compensation back.
There was a ton of reported interest in Caruso at last season's trade deadline. According to CHGO's Will Gottlieb, those offers came from multiple teams, some of whom offered multiple protected first-round picks. One of those picks would have landed in the top 10 of this year's draft.
Rather than taking those offers at the time, the Bulls made an ill-fated run toward the playoffs, eventually getting embarrassed by the Heat in a Play-In elimination game. In holding onto Caruso, they got a significantly worse package today.
MORE: The Bulls broke up with their diehard fans long ago
Giddey has shown good promise. He's already the best inbounds passer in the league and an absolute master at throwing bounce passes through narrow windows. He's a funky player who needs the right fit to succeed, as was well-evidenced throughout his time in Oklahoma City.
Giddey does present obvious flaws, though. While he has improved as a 3-point shooter, he still hit only 33.7 percent of his attempts this season and was left wide open most of the time. Opposing centers would guard him and sag 15 feet off him, helping on better players.
Giddey also isn't a good defender. He was targeted throughout the playoffs.
One of the biggest red flags on Giddey's offense is his extremely poor free throw rate. He has never shot more than two per game despite starting all 210 of his regular-season Thunder games. He settles far too often for a mediocre floater rather than driving into contact.
Despite those weaknesses, Giddey's vision is special. He is a good connector who might be able to show more in a bigger role on a new team. That is a nice prospect to have, but moving Caruso was way too high of a price to pay for it.
Maybe this looks better if picks become reported. For now, this is a disaster for the Bulls.
Grade: D-
Thunder trade grade
This is an absolute heist for the Thunder. Giddey is a talented player, but he clearly wasn't fitting with this roster. He needs the ball in his hands to be most effective. The writing was on the wall a year ago that they needed to move him. He lost his spot in the starting lineup by the end of the team's second-round series with Dallas.
Giddey was set to become a restricted free agent in the summer of 2025. Rather than paying him that deal, the Thunder were able to move him for one of the league's best contracts. Caruso will earn just $9.9 million next season.
Caruso will fit the Thunder in all of the ways that Giddey didn't. Giddey is a below-average defender, while Caruso is the best perimeter defender in the league. His skills ramp up even further in the playoffs, where his ability to switch 1-though-4 and play unbelievable one-on-one defense are even more important.
MORE: Why the Lakers hired first-time head coach JJ Redick
Caruso is also a much more capable shooter than Giddey, providing space for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams to drive. Caruso hit 40.8 percent of his 3s last season. More importantly, he was much more willing to shoot than in previous years. OKC was eliminated by Dallas because of those non-shooters in its lineup that big men could hide on. That won't be the case any longer.
Caruso brings fantastic intangibles to the team. He's one of the best communicators in the league and a great teacher. DeMar DeRozan likened his basketball acumen to that of a college professor, citing him as a spark plug for the team.
What's even more wild for the Thunder is that they will retain most of their $25 million projected cap space, per Spotrac. They still have easy avenues to continue to add a big name this summer and get even better.
The Thunder were already a sleeping giant before this trade. Now, they have an NBA champion and one of the best veterans in the league to help guide them through the playoffs. This feels like an updated version of the Derrick White trade that pushed the Celtics into championship contenders.
That earns Oklahoma City the first A+ that I've ever handed out in a trade grade.
Grade: A+
