A new solution to Chicago’s sports problems seems to be trending.
The answer is trade the untradable. Every other day, there seems to be a suggestion or a report that certain players could be on the move, whether it’s Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, Andrew Benintendi, Cody Bellinger, etc.
To be clear, you never say never in situations like these. There’s always some mix of cash considerations, attached draft picks and taking on bad contracts that can make a trade work.
For example, the Bulls could probably trade LaVine for Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal tomorrow, creating a reunion with Beal’s coach at Florida, Billy Donovan. But that’s only because Beal has the worse of two bad contracts. He’s set to make $57 million in 2026-27, compared to $49 million for LaVine. It makes no sense for the Bulls to do that.
So let’s clarify the issue: It’s impossible to make a good trade for any of these players.
Bellinger’s contract is particularly cumbersome, since any prospective trade partner for the Cubs won’t know if he’ll exercise an option for $25 million in 2026. And keep in mind, since winning MVP in 2019, Bellinger’s had one really good season over the past five years.
Any story titled, “Should the Cubs trade Bellinger?” should be altered to “How in the world could the Cubs escape this unfortunate contract?” Maybe he’ll live up to it next season.
The Bulls would love to swap Vucevic for a more athletic center who offers more rim protection. But guess what? Every NBA team is looking for the same thing, so it’s highly unlikely any other team would jump at the chance to pay Vucevic $20 million next season.
The solutions being suggested are really not solutions, which sums up the state of Chicago sports. The Cubs and Bulls are sitting in middle ground, having paid too much for players who aren’t leading a championship charge. The White Sox and Blackhawks are trying to rebuild and have a long, long way to go.
When considering the Bears’ five-game losing streak, at least they don’t have this problem. Rookie QB Caleb Williams is the real deal. If there’s anyone fans want to see pack up and leave, it’s head coach Matt Eberflus, which is a relatively easy change to make.
The Bears are losing because they keep getting field goals blocked, can’t get late-game defensive stops, and make other dumb mistakes like being struck by a bouncing punt.
How do they correct these issues? By getting better players and better coaches. As mentioned here before, the Bears still suffer from the bad drafting of previous GM Ryan Pace from 2015-21. So the growing number of excruciating losses they’ve endured will actually help the cause by providing a higher draft pick.
The Bears have made some free agent blunders (see Nate Davis) since Pace left, but they don’t really have that bad contract that’s both preventing further roster moves and is really difficult to move. So they have that going for them.
