11 NBA players became trade eligible as of January 15th, including recently signed Bulls point guard Josh Giddey.
As of January 15th, 11 NBA players become trade eligible, mostly players who had recently signed new contracts. This list of players includes recently signed Chicago Bulls point guard Josh Giddey, who inked a four-year, $100 million pact with the Bulls late this past offseason. Giddey is in the middle of a career-best season, averaging 19.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 9.0 assists per game while knocking down a career-high 38.6% of his (also career-high) 4.8 3-point attempts per game. It's safe to assume that the Bulls aren't looking to move Giddey under any circumstances, but the option does sit on the table for the organization if they got involved in some sort of out-of-character, massive trade.
Another recently signed young talent who becomes trade eligible today is Golden State Warriors wing Jonathan Kuminga, a name that has been connected often to Chicago, and a player who presumably is looked at as solid fit next to Giddey in a theoretical new-look Bulls lineup.
This season, Kuminga is averaging 11.8 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 2.6 APG while shooting 32% from 3-point range, and unlike Giddey, he is almost certainly a lock to get moved ahead of the February 5th NBA trade deadline. Kuminga has seen his role in Golden State diminish despite an uneven season for the Warriors, one filled with injuries that conceivably should grant more playing time and usage to Kuminga. That hasn't been the case, and the Kuminga-Steve Kerr relationship in the Bay has finally (mercifully?) seem to have run its course. The Warriors will, of course, be looking for great value in return for Kuminga, a tough proposition given how public it is that both sides want out of the relationship.
The other nine players who become trade eligible today along with Giddey and Kuminga are: Naz Reid, Quentin Grimes, Isaiah Jackson, Davion Mitchell, Sam Merrill, Paul Reed, Ryan Rollins, Santi Aldama, and Tre Mann.
Out of the aforementioned names, the shot-blocking Jackson, and sharpshooting Merrill, standout as players who are realistically aquiarable, and fill a specific and needed role in Chicago. But in terms of the Bulls, the name that will continue to stick is Kuminga. We have seen in the past that once the Bulls have fixated on a specific young talent on a rival team, they seem eager to get the deal done to the point of not trying too hard to win on the margins, valuing "getting their guy," over haggling for an extra, yet valuable asset that could result in the deal falling through.
With the way the league works, there is a possibility that a Kuminga-to-Chicago framework is already in place with the January 15th trade eligibility date being in mind. We do have past reports that indicate the Warriors and Bulls have had trade discussions over the past several seasons as it pertains to Alex Caruso and Nikola Vucevic, so Kuminga's name has inevitably come up.
Today is the day a whole new set of trade opportunities open up for the Chicago Bulls and the rest of the league, and as a result, expect the rumor mill to heat up.