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NBA Trade Rumors: Jabari Parker To Bulls, Jimmy Butler To Bucks, And Greg Monroe To Pelicans In Blockbuster Six-Player Deal

By Adrian Lawhorn
Published on: 15:02 PST, Oct 8, 2016

NBA trade rumors continue to spread like wildfire via the internet. The 2016 NBA preseason has begun, but teams are still looking for that one big move that could thrust them into contention this season. The latest from the rumor mill suggests that a three-team trade may be in the works between the Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, and New Orleans Pelicans.

According to Sportsrageous, there have been discussions among these teams regarding a potential six-player transaction. The reported structure of this deal has the Bulls receiving forward Jabari Parker and swingman Tyreke Evans, while the Bucks would come away with guard/forward Jimmy Butler and center Omer Asik. The final piece to this puzzle sees forward/center Greg Monroe and point guard Michael Carter-Williams heading south to play for the Pelicans.

This is a complex trade scenario, but when all the smoke clears, this three-team, six-player deal satisfies all NBA trade and salary cap rules, per the ESPN NBA Trade Machine. Both Milwaukee and New Orleans have cap room available, so they are taking on the most salary among the three franchises rumored to be involved in these trade talks. The Bucks would bring in $27.5 million in salary, the Pelicans would be on the hook for $20.3 million, and the Bulls would only be on the books for $15.6 million of incoming salary if this trade takes place.

The Chicago Bulls would be sending Jimmy Butler out in order to obtain Jabari Parker and Tyreke Evans in their part of this three-team swap. Parker is a talented young player, but the Bulls are in good shape at power forward with Nikola Mirotic, Taj Gibson, and Bobby Portis. If the Bulls agreed to this trade, another trade may have to follow since they would be overloaded at power forward. Evans would take Butler’s former starting spot at small forward, but that would be a clear downgrade for Chicago.

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Tyreke Evans has been a productive player during his career, but he has never proven he can be a key cog on a winning team. Butler has established himself as an NBA All-Star and in the minds of some, a true superstar. It appears highly unlikely that the Bulls would be interested in this rumored trade offer, since Jabari Parker and Tyreke Evans would not make their team better if losing Jimmy Butler is the cost to bring them in.

Greg Monroe and Michael Carter-Williams of the Milwaukee Bucks have been mentioned in NBA trade rumors all summer. It seems the Bucks would like to move on from them, but they have yet to find a suitable trade partner to make this happen. Jimmy Butler would be a terrific asset as the team’s new shooting guard, which is presently an area of weakness. If the season began today, the Bucks might have to start rookie Malcolm Brogdon at shooting guard — so Butler’s presence would be huge for Milwaukee.

Omer Asik would be a solid backup center for the Bucks, and would fill a need if the team deals Greg Monroe. This looks like a very good trade for Milwaukee, but the catch is that they need Chicago and New Orleans to agree to the deal as well. There certainly does not appear to be enough value in this offer to tempt the Bulls, so the Bucks are probably out of luck unless they and/or the Pelicans can restructure the offer to be more appealing to Chicago.

The New Orleans Pelicans could really use Greg Monroe and Michael Carter-Williams. Both would be starters, as the team is currently led at those positions by Alexis Ajinca and Langston Galloway, respectively. The Pelicans’ outgoing players in this trade scenario, Tyreke Evans and Omer Asik, are going to be bench players if they remain in New Orleans, so the Pelicans’ lineup would improve quite a bit if this trade goes through.

The latest NBA trade rumors are pointing toward a possible blockbuster trade between Chicago, Milwaukee, and New Orleans. The Bucks and Pelicans would benefit significantly from the proposed deal, but the Bulls would not. Perhaps Milwaukee and/or New Orleans can include draft picks or a player that would be more to Chicago’s liking, but unless the deal is restructured to send a better package to the Windy City, it looks like the Bulls would choose to take their chances with Jimmy Butler remaining in the role of Chicago’s main man.

[Featured Image by Darren Hauck/AP Images]

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