Shortly after Kyrie Irving requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, Shams Charania joined Waddle & Silvy on ESPN 1000 day-time radio show to share his insight on the Bulls’ plans ahead of the NBA trade deadline. The Bulls plan to focus on acquiring a guard with the absence of Lonzo Ball looming over their underwhelming season. After paying Zach LaVine a price of $216 million, it’s a safe bet their focus will be on a point guard who will likely replace Ball. Based on Shams Charania’s tone, the Bulls seem to be already holding conversations with rival teams to acquire a backcourt player to play next to LaVine.

There aren’t many point guards available who would be a significant upgrade over Alex Caruso and Ayo Dosunmu besides Kyrie Irving, Fred VanVleet, and Nah’Shon ‘Bones’ Hyland. All three guards are expected to be traded within the next week, which gives Bulls fans a clear shortlist of players to assume Arturas Karnisovas is interested in.

Does Acquiring Kyrie Irving Make Sense?

In short: yes. However, it gets complicated when you factor in the potential trade package the Nets are looking for despite having almost no trade leverage. Also, it comes down to if Kyrie Irving is a rental or will commit and resign for the max over the summer. Nobody can deny his talent on the court. At 30, Kyrie Irving is averaging 27 points per game, along with five rebounds and assists per game. As a former champion, Kyrie Irving impacts the game in a lot of winning ways, which is the reason the Nets are the fourth seed in the East despite Kevin Durant missing significant time.

Assuming the Bulls are willing to dip into the luxury tax after resigning Kyrie Irving and Nikola Vucevic, they would arguably have the best team in the NBA on paper. It’s hard to predict how three ball-dominant players like Kyrie Irving, Zach LaVine, and DeMar DeRozan will fit together before Bulls fans can start making their arrangements for a championship parade. Still, there’s a good chance they can figure it out. After all, Kyrie Irving has played with other great talents like LeBron James, Kevin Love, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, James Harden, Ben Simmons, and Kevin Durant. A player of Kyrie Irving’s experience can blend into the mix and likely dominate for the Bulls as DeMar DeRozan gets older.

The only scenario the Bulls must move on from any potential Kyrie Irving deal is if his agency makes it clear Kyrie Irving’s intentions to join the Lakers either through the trade market or through free agency over the summer. That point, even giving up small assets for a rental isn’t worth it. It worked out for the Toronto Raptors the one year they went all-in on a championship when they acquired Kawhi Leonard on an expiring deal, who chose to leave after winning a title the following summer, but its unlikely lightning will strike twice.