Frequently-fleeced Spurs trade partner might unfortunately be wising up

The San Antonio Spurs have taken advantage of the Bulls plenty in recent years, but Chicago finally won a trade by taking on Dario Saric to get a couple of second-round draft picks. The Bulls should be rebuilding and need to accumulate assets. This should have been the case for years, which made their moves with San Antonio look even worse.

Chicago traded their 2025 first-round draft pick to the Spurs as part of the package to land DeMar DeRozan and four years later had to get involved in the De’Aaron Fox deal just to get it back. The Bulls were headed for the lottery and saw a chance to fleece the Kings into a disastrous deal. Sacramento and Chicago should not be allowed to trade with each other, as it almost always ends in disaster for both parties.

Spurs fans were pumped to hear Chicago is interested in Jeremy Sochan. San Antonio wants to move on before the Feb. 5 deadline, and has fleeced the Bulls in three straight trades. Sadly, Chicago may be wising up, but that shouldn’t prevent the Spurs from asking.

Spurs fans aren’t happy the Bulls are finally getting smart about trades

Arturas Karnisovas wants to win and keeps pushing to make the postseason. It doesn’t matter that the Bulls have made just one playoff appearance in eight years. They are happy to be in the Play-In Tournament and hope to generate one more home gate. It has hampered the Bulls' long-term outlook for years, but finally, they could be getting smart.

They took on Dario Saric’s $5.2 million salary to get two second-round draft picks in the De’Andre Hunter three-team trade. The Cavaliers got Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis as Hunter went to Sacramento. Renting space for draft capital is a wise move by any rebuilding franchise. The Bulls signaled they are tanking and looking to get a high draft pick this summer.

The Spurs fleeced the Bulls in three straight deals dating back to the 2021 trade for DeMar DeRozan. They have been an easy target since Karnisovas took over the front office. Multiple teams have done it, and Bulls fans are scared for the future.

San Antonio remains one of the smartest and best-run organizations in the NBA. Gregg Popovich retired, but the franchise is still doing things his way. The Spurs are not going to make a foolish trade. It is why teams like the Bulls and Kings should be terrified whenever they see a Texas number popping up on their phones.

The Chicago Bulls desperately needed to learn this lesson and finally got through. It is time to rebuild in the Windy City, which means accumulating assets until you have a star. The Spurs have the blueprint drawn up after going from a terrifying future to one of the brightest in the NBA. They can thank Victor Wembanyama, but it is all about executing a plan. Right now, there is no franchise cornerstone, so the Bulls should be getting as many draft picks as possible.

The San Antonio Spurs are a contender. They will still need pieces to win it all, and sadly, one of the easiest targets may finally be changing their ways. Fans in the Alamo don’t love it. The Bulls made one stellar trade. Is this the start of a culture change or blind luck? Everyone will soon find out. The Spurs will try to fleece the Bulls again, but it appears Chicago has finally figured it out.