(670 The Score) The Bulls have traded guard Lonzo Ball to the Cavaliers for wing Isaac Okoro, ESPN reported Saturday morning.
Ball’s exit comes as no surprise, given Chicago’s logjam of guards and his team-friendly contract that was appealing to many organizations. The expectation was the Bulls would look to trade a guard this summer.
The Bulls are getting back a defensive-minded player in the 6-foot-5 Okoro, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft who has never established himself as a threat on the offensive end in his career. He averaged 6.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists last season, when he shot 46.4% overall and 37.1% on low-volume 3-point shooting.
The Bulls’ vision in acquiring Okoro is to help improve their defense and balance their roster. The Bulls ranked 19th in defensive rating last season.
Okoro is owed $11 million this upcoming season and $11.8 million in 2026-’27, after which he’s scheduled to hit free agency. In taking on Okoro, the Bulls trimmed away $11.8 million in projected cap space in summer 2026, when they could have a decent chunk of space with many current players entering the final year of their contracts now.
Ball’s four-year tenure in Chicago was marred by a devastating series of left knee injuries that required multiple surgeries. The Bulls rose to the top of the Eastern Conference in the first half of the 2021-’22 season, Ball’s first with the team, before he was sidelined for the rest of that campaign and the entirety of the next two years.
Ball worked tirelessly in an effort to return, and he turned into a feel-good story when he made a comeback for this past 2024-’25 season. His surgically repaired knee held up well, though he was bothered by wrist injuries. Ball averaged 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 22.2 minutes across 35 games. He shot 36.6% overall and 34.4% on 3-pointers.