Lonzo Ball is headed up north to the Chicago Bulls through a sign-and-trade deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, as per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. With a four-year deal worth $85 million USD, Ball will be traded off for Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple and a second-round pick, according to The Athletic and Stadium’s Shams Charania. This will be his third team in five seasons in the NBA.
The 23-year-old guard was the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2017 as he kicked off his career with his hometown Los Angeles Lakers team for two seasons. He was then part of a trade deal for the Lakers to acquire Anthony Davis once LeBron James came into play. Afterwhich, he played for the Pelicans for the past two years and continued to bring up his 3-point shooting percentage.
Coming from connecting 31.5 percent of his 3-pointers during his time with the Lakers, Ball shot up his percentage to 37.6 when he wore the Pelicans threads. The soon-to-be Bulls guard averaged 14.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game in the recent season. Despite the drop in his number of assists due to the transition to an off-ball player, Ball is a flexible player as he can go from playmaking, defending and rebounding as a guard.
Joining Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, Ball will be stepping onto the court as a complementary guard. LaVine is currently the prime shooter for the Bulls as he powers their offense by hitting all three levels. The Bulls didn’t have quite an exciting season in the recent months as they only ranked 21st in points per game and had a subpar defense. LaVine missed 11 straight games due to health and safety protocols which definitely impacted the team’s shooting percentage especially in terms of 3-pointers. With Ball coming into the mix, the Bulls are looking to come into the new season more equipped.
The Chicago Bulls are sending Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple and a second-round pick to New Orleans for Lonzo Ball, who’s signing a four-year, $85M contract, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 2, 2021
For more NBA reports, Alex Caruso is also joining the Bulls after four seasons with the Lakers.
