As rumors fly around, detailing the outlines of potential deals from the small salary dumps to Blake Griffin-level blockbusters, chaos is the only true winner ahead of the NBA trade deadline . In some cases, the big news is that there is no trade at all.
After it was initially reported Tuesday afternoon by Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago that the Bulls had agreed to send Nikola Mirotic to the Pelicans in exchange for Omer Asik and a first-round pick, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski revealed the deal had "fallen apart." It's possible the Bulls and Pelicans still figure out a way to complete a trade, but there are some obstacles in the way.
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Because of the structure of Mirotic's contract — a two-year deal he signed before the start of the 2017-18 season — the fourth-year forward would have to approve any trade in which his 2018-19 salary was not guaranteed. If that $12.5 million option is exercised prior to a trade, then Chicago and New Orleans would be able to move forward without Mirotic's permission. The Pelicans are concerned about creating enough cap space to re-sign DeMarcus Cousins this summer, according to Scott Kushner of The Advocate, and Mirotic would complicate those plans.
There is likely another piece to this trade as well to make the money match up.
Unless my math is off, there has to be something else to the Pelicans/Bulls trade. Pels need to clear a little bit more room under the hard cap. They are taking on an additional $1.9M this year, but have only $1.2M under the hard cap. Something else has to be involved.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 30, 2018
Pelicans could probably include someone like Tony Allen to clear the necessary room under the hard cap. Bulls can easily eat the salary and they have an open roster spot to do a 2-for-1 deal.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 30, 2018
After missing the first 23 games of the season with facial fractures suffered in a fight with teammate Bobby Portis, Mirotic came back to the court better than ever. He is averaging career-highs in points per game (16.8), rebounds per game (6.4), field goal percentage (47.4) and 3-point percentage (42.9 on 6.4 attempts per game). With Cousins' Achilles injury ending his season early, the Pelicans could use some frontcourt depth, and Mirotic would provide much-needed shooting next to Anthony Davis.
For the Bulls, this trade would be more about acquiring the draft pick as another asset for their rebuild. Asik's contract has been stuck on the Pelicans' books — he is owed a shade under $25 million through the 2019-20 season — and Chicago was willing to eat that salary with the pick attached. The Bulls are one of the few teams not concerned with cap space.
This trade is not canceled, just on hold at the moment. The Pelicans and Bulls still have until Feb. 8 to find a workable deal.
