The trade deadline is very close and we have already seen some big trades made but that likely isn't the end of the wheeling and dealing. The Toronto Raptors are one of the teams that are expected to make a move before Thursday's deadline as they are searching for some help at the power forward position. The Chicago Bulls offered the Raptors a deal involving Taj Gibson, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN, but the Raptors declined.
The deal reportedly offered by the Bulls was a straight up swap of Gibson and Patrick Patterson. The Raptors have not been please with Patterson's performance so far this season and they are going for it this year as they have the second best record in the Eastern Conference. Gibson is having a better season than Patterson and would likely have a greater impact than Patterson has so far but it might not make sense for the future.
Patterson, although he is having a down year, is just 26 years old and has proven to be a very solid player in his five plus years in the NBA. Gibson, on the other hand, is 30 years old and both players have the same contract situation as they are signed through next season. Gibson's salary for next season ($8.95 million) is a little higher than Patterson's ($6 million). The Raptors might improve a little bit in the present from this proposed deal but it isn't enough improvement to risk getting worse in the future. For that reason the talks reportedly did not go very far.
From the Bulls perspective this deal makes a lot of sense. Chicago knows that the chances of them making any noise in the playoffs are slim, especially without Jimmy Butler, and they are looking to get a younger piece with more potential. Gibson has been on the block for a while now but the Bulls won't just trade him for anything considering he has another year on his contract.
Although the Bulls likely won't get their hands on him Patterson's bad year has not hurt his trade value as he is garnering a lot of interest, according to Bobby Marks of The Vertical. Teams currently covet Patterson from the Raptors and they may use him to add another power forward. Since Gibson seems unlikely they may look to someone like Ryan Anderson of the New Orleans Pelicans or Thaddeus Young of the Brooklyn Nets.
