NBA Trade Rumors: Chicago Bulls Sending Taj Gibson to Philadelphia 76ers for Jahlil Okafor

By Carlo Monzon
Jahlil Okafor
Jahlil Okafor during the 2015 NBA Summer League Wikimedia Commons/Ed

According to new reports, the Chicago Bulls are preparing to make a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers for Jahlil Okafor. In exchange, the 76ers will reportedly get Taj Gibson.

For the past couple of weeks, Okafor has been the target of various NBA trade rumors. These strengthened after 76ers team president Bryan Colangelo revealed that the Philadelphia organization is currently facing a surplus of big men. He admitted that this surplus is causing an imbalance in the team.

This then led to various reports about teams going after 76ers' players, specifically Okafor. Recently, the Bulls have joined the growing list of teams associated to the potential trade deal with the 76ers.

As Inquisitr noted, the Chicago franchise heavily used the offseason to rebuild its roster, primarily by sending away Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Now, it seems the team is looking to make a move again by trading Gibson to the 76ers.

This deal could be a win-win situation for both teams. For one, with Okafor on the lineup, the Bulls will get an experienced center who can support the team's offensive and defensive players. He could also serve as a valuable partner to guards Dwayne Wade, Rajon Rondo and Jimmy Butler.

The 76ers, on the other hand, will be getting a veteran power forward through Gibson, who averaged 8.6 points per game last season. Adding him to the roster could certainly help in solving the imbalance in the team's lineup.

But aside from just getting Okafor, the Bulls will also gain a lot if they trade away Gibson. As noted by Forbes in July, the upcoming 2016-2017 NBA season will mark the last year in Gibson's contract with the Chicago organization. For his final year, he is expected to get almost $9 million.

Given the Bulls' current lineup, which, aside from Wade, Butler and Rondo, includes Robin Lopez, Nikola Mirotic, Cristiano Feliciano and Bobby Portis, the team has a lot of good players to take on the starter positions.

From a financial standpoint, paying a non-starting player almost $9 million for one year doesn't seem too logical nor lucrative. With this in mind, it would be very wise for the Bulls to trade him away than just lose him in free agency next season.

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