The Chicago Bulls are exchanging guard Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers in return for forward Isaac Okoro, league sources confirmed Saturday.
Ball, 27, played 35 games this season after sitting out two full years recovering from multiple knee surgeries, including a 2023 cartilage transplant. He averaged 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists, providing consistent defense and transition play before being sidelined again in March with a wrist injury.
Okoro, 24, averaged 6.1 points in 55 games last season and is a career 35.1% shooter from three-point range.
And then, there was Vooch.
The Chicago Bulls have nearly disbanded the core of players that led their last playoff appearance in 2021, which included Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic and DeMar DeRozan.
The Bulls reportedly traded Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday morning, receiving forward Isaac Okoro in return. Only Vucevic remains from that core, and he might be relocated in the future, too.
Here’s how we evaluate the Bulls’ Saturday swap with the Cavs.
Grading the Bulls:
The Bulls urgently needed defense. They acquired it here.
Their perimeter defense was, for lack of a better word, poor. They struggled to block drives and allowed teams to dominate them in the paint. This is a move to address that. If Okoro comes off the bench, it would bring a top-tier defensive presence off the bench for the Bulls in critical situations. If he starts, it would provide that defense for the Bulls immediately.
Okoro is a sturdy defender whose strongest qualities as a player emerge on the defensive end of the court. He’s a low-volume 3-point shooter who has enhanced his shooting each season since entering the league as the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. He shot 37 percent last year, 39 percent the year before that and 35 percent across his entire career.
Okoro was exposed in the playoffs, particularly when the Cavaliers were upset by the Indiana Pacers. However, playoff performances shouldn’t be a concern for a Bulls team that hasn’t reached the postseason since the 2022 NBA Playoffs.
Okoro is just 24, meaning a change of environment and a new system could help him establish a lasting role in Chicago. With his contract ending after the 2025-2026 season, it’s a low-risk, high-reward wager for the Bulls who gain a player that could still reach his prime.
It’s not as unfavorable a trade as some might suggest.
In other news, Cavaliers free agent guard Sam Merrill indicated that he intends to sign a four-year contract to stay with the Cavaliers, according to an ESPN report.