Cleveland Cavaliers acquiring Lonzo Ball in a trade that sends Issac Okoro to the Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers acquiring Lonzo Ball in a trade that sends Issac Okoro to the Bulls

we have breaking news from the NBA where the Cleveland Cavaliers are acquiring Lonzo Ball in a trade with the Chicago Bulls that’s according to ESPN the Cavs will be reportedly sending Isaac Aoro back to Chicago ball returned from a 2-year absence in the 20242 season appearing in 35 games while averaging better than seven points and three assists for the Bulls here’s a look at the full trade details is a one for one as you see there the Cavs receive Lonzo Ball as the Bulls receive Isaac Aoro for much more on this let’s go ahead and welcome in Jasmine Wimish for more jasmine breaking news here on CBS Sports HQ what are the Cavs getting in Lonzo Ball at this stage in his career yeah I mean look if if Lonzo Ball can stay healthy I think this is a perfect fit for the Cavaliers they’re taking a flyer on Lonzo Ball is in his final year of his contract this this upcoming season so they’re not really spending a lot of assets on him you’re getting somebody who when he was healthy Lonz was an amazing two-way player he’s somebody who can defend at the point of attack he’s somebody who can knock down threes when he was healthy on that Bulls team that had Alex Cruso Demar Rose and Zack Lavine this was one of the best defensive teams in the NBA that Bulls team so if he’s able to stay healthy this is a great person to bring in off the bench it basically replaces Isaac Aoro’s minutes he was getting about 20 minutes a game you bring in Lonzal if he’s able to do that for you off the bench I think that is an incredible win for the Cavaliers here he’s somebody who is a pass first point guard he can score he can he can be the kind of connector that the the Cavaliers need and on defense I think the defensive side of it is the biggest bit for the Cavaliers here lonzo is just a great and I think it’s kind of surprising that this is all the Bulls got for Lonzo Ball get that he struggled with injuries so his value has kind of gone down but it’s another example of the Bulls kind of holding on to their assets a bit too long because they could have traded him at the dead at the trade deadline in February and probably could have gotten a first round pick out of it so now they’ve only got Isaac Aoro he’s got two more years on his contract he’s a great defender but he’s fallen out of favor in that rotation in Cleveland so I’m not sure where he fits on this Bulls team going forward
okay so you kind of set the stage for us right there um now that we know what they’re getting and the value that ball brings to the Cleveland Cavaliers how are you interpreting this trade for the Cavs why are they doing this
i think that the Cavs are looking at next season and you know they they really were probably very disappointed in the way that they performed in the playoffs they got eaten alive by the Pacers fast-paced offense and bringing in somebody like Ball is somebody who can kind of keep up to speed with the with a team like the Pacers next season so I think that they just wanted to add more defensive to their team and also again like I said they’re taking a flyer on Monzal if he doesn’t work out he’s going to be an unrestricted free agent this or next summer so there’s really no harm in this but if he ends up being healthy and he’s able to show those signs that he was before he had all of these injury issues then they are able to be the first team to get like this little sample size of him and then sign him to a longer term deal next season which is again a great get for the for the Cavaliers and this is a team that they don’t need him to do a ton next season they’re already a team that was a championship contender this year they fell short in the playoffs but Lonzo Bal can come in get you 15 20 minutes be that defensive anchor off of the bench be a guy who can run the offensive in that second unit and really just is a perfect fit for that second unit for the Cavaliers so I think it’s a great move by Cleveland he didn’t give didn’t give up any draft assets for him so I think it’s a a great move by Cleveland for Chicago i just I don’t understand it at all and we’ll get to that in a minute but sticking here with the Cavs um now with this addition and knowing kind of the direction maybe that they’re headed for next year are the Cavs the biggest threat to the Thunder and repeating for next year
yeah I mean I think you look at that Eastern Conference and Boston’s going to be down pacers are going to be down now that they’ve got two stars out so it’s definitely wide open for the Cavaliers to make a deep run in the playoffs i think it’s going to be Cleveland i think it’s going to be the Knicks i think the Magic now that they’ve got Desmond Bane they’ve needed a shooter so I think those are the three teams that I’m looking at but certainly the Cavaliers I think are in that pole position despite the fact that the Knicks got to the Eastern Conference Finals the Cavaliers were just a consistent threat all throughout the regular season so I think they’ll probably if I were to pick right now I would say that the Cavaliers will probably finish next season with the number one spot in the East getting but the issue is getting through the Eastern Conference but now they don’t have to face Boston they don’t have to face Indiana which just kicked them in the playoffs next season so their biggest threat will probably be the Knicks will probably be Orlando but I think adding somebody like Lonzo Ball helps on the defensive side of the ball for them which is something that they really struggled with in that second round against Indiana so I think I think this puts Cleveland in a very good position to make a very deep run in the postseason next year
oddsmakers on the same page with you Jasmine as the Cavs had the best odds right now to win the Eastern Conference next season at plus 210 um lastly here what does this all mean for the Bulls you mentioned that they probably could have got more in this trade a little disappointed and surprised um at what they actually received for Lonzo Ball probably could could have gotten more a team that has really refused to go down the rebuild path um but could this be the first sign that maybe they’re open
yeah I mean I think perhaps but when you don’t get draft capital back I don’t really know what that means isaac Aoro has two years left he’s making 11 million on those next two years of his deal i don’t know what this means for Chicago because you’re not getting draft capital you’re not getting a young guy who’s going to be part of this future long term so I don’t really know what the Bulls are doing here but to be honest I’ve I live in Chicago i’ve been going to Bulls games for like five years i’ve not really known what the Bulls have been doing for the last five years of this team just because they hold on to these assets for too long they depreciate and then they trade them and then don’t get the top value for them that’s what they did with Zack Lavine that’s what they did with Demard Rosen they traded Alex Caruso and got Josh Giddy and didn’t get a single draft asset for him alex Caruso ended up being the differencemaker that won the Oklahoma City Thunder a championship this year so I don’t really understand why the Bulls decided to hold on to Lonzo when he was performing at peak levels prior to the trade deadline and they could have gotten the draft capital for him and now they’re sending him out for Isaac Aoro who was not a rotation player in Cleveland he will certainly get minutes in Chicago but he’s not he can’t shoot threes he’s not a volume three-point shooter and that’s something that the Bulls need they don’t really have a ton of shooters on this team and depending on if they keep Kobe White or not because there was conversation about maybe they trade both Lonzo Ball and Kobe White kobe White would certainly net them some draft capital so if they decide to do that perhaps that’s where they get those first round picks from but he’s really the only shooter you’d have on this team uh Nicolus is probably somebody who also gets traded so I don’t really know what the the game plan here is for the Bulls they’ve been pretty content in being a mediocre team not going through a rebuild they’ve been pretty consistent in saying “We don’t want to tank because tanking does not guarantee you a top draft spot.” Totally understandable we just saw that with the Dallas Mavericks they had a 1.8% 8% chance of getting the number one pick and they got it so losing like intentionally losing games does not mean that you’re going to get a number one pick at the same time trotting out a lineup that really has no forward future for years on end doesn’t make a ton of sense either so yes this deal might seem like oh yeah the Bulls are trying trying to actually go into a rebuild we got to see what else they’re going to do throughout this season and throughout next season to see if that’s actually what we’re looking at or if it’s just them just saying “Well we just wanted to move Lonzo because that’s just what we wanted to do.” It’s it’s really a confusing aspect because I I I thought that they would be able to get a first round pick for him but apparently not so well let’s hope there’s a game plan in place and that we understand uh this move uh sooner rather than later j Jasmine Wimbish joining us here with the breaking news as the Cleveland Cavaliers are acquiring Lonzo Ball in a trade with the Chicago Bulls as you take a look at the updated odds to win the NBA title for next year thunder with the best odds at plus 230 there to repeat followed by the Cleveland Cavaliers

NBA Writer Jasmyn Wimbish joins CBS Sports HQ with her reaction to the Cleveland Cavaliers trading for Lonzo Ball.

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