When De’Aaron Fox was dealt in early February, everyone was concerned about the implications for the Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs. However, as you may recall, the trade featured a third team: the Chicago Bulls. So far, they have emerged as the clear beneficiaries of the transaction.
To begin, let’s look at each team’s records since the deal. Here’s each team’s record, win percentage, and net rating since February 3 (the day after the trade):
It’s not by much (and none of these teams have been world-beaters), but the Bulls have played the best basketball of the three in the last two months.
The disparity is significantly higher when looking at the last 12-14 games. Since March 5, the Kings are 4-10 (28.6% winning percentage), the Spurs are 5-8 (38.5%), and the Bulls are 9-3 (75%).
There is some additional context that should be included here. The Spurs have been in full tank mode since losing Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox for the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, while the Kings battled to fit their new pieces together, they also had some bad opponent shooting luck. Since March 5, opponents have shot 40.6% from three against the Kings, the highest rate of any club in the league.
The Bulls have had the seventh-lowest opponent three-point shooting throughout that time (34.8%). In addition, they’ve benefited from facing some weaker opponents recently (such as the Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat, and Utah Jazz).
However, what the Bulls are doing is undoubtedly admirable. I don’t believe Zach LaVine is the empty-calorie player that many people portray him to be. However, the Bulls have reaped the benefits of addition by subtraction. It allows guys like Coby White, Josh Giddey, and Matas Buzelis to wander the study space more freely, and they are taking advantage of the opportunity.
White, in particular, has shown brightly with more usage. In March, White is averaging 29.1 points per game, 5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists on 63.3% true shooting.
Leave a Reply