'No brainer:' Why Giddey and Bulls need AD

• Josh Giddey is playing at an All-Star level for the Bulls.
• Chicago lacks the vertical lob threat elite point guards rely on.
• Vucevic excels as a pick-and-pop option but not as a rim-running finisher.
• Anthony Davis ranks top-four league-wide as a pick-and-roll scorer.

Australian Josh Giddey should be an NBA All-Star this season, as long as he continues his upward trend for the Chicago Bulls.

But there's one thing the upper echelon of point guards have at their disposal that Giddey doesn't.

It's something Luka Doncic told the Los Angeles Lakers he needed after arriving in Hollywood from Dallas, something that NBA teams covet to create spacing on the offensive end even more than shooters who put the fear of god into defences from the perimeter.

That thing is a vertical lob threat.

Doncic has that in DeAndre Ayton. The partnership between the duo has revitalised Ayton's previously grim NBA future, allowed the Slovenian point guard to find career-best form, which would put him as an MVP favourite if it wasn't for a historic season from Nikola Jokic, and has positioned to Lakers to launch an assault on the Western Conference title.

Jalen Brunson has Karl-Anthony Towns, who can play as a pick and roll and pick and pop threat, and Mitchell Robinson. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein and Cade Cunningham has Jalen Duran.

Giddey has... Nikola Vucevic.

Now, nothing against 'Vooch'. He's been Chicago's second-best player behind the Australian Boomers star and was a big reason for the Bulls' impressive start to the 2025-26 season, including a game-winner to beat the Portland Trail Blazers on the road but he hardly puts any fear into elite-level defences across the league.

Enter 10-time NBA All-Star and Chicago native, Anthony Davis.

With the Dallas Mavericks limping their way through a nightmare season following the Doncic for Davis trade and sitting towards the bottom of the Western Conference, it appears more and more likely they will look to make drastic changes to build around No.1 draft pick Cooper Flagg.

With Davis seemingly on the market, a return home to Chicago could be the best fit. For him, for the Bulls and also for Giddey.

The 32-year-old, who helped the Lakers to the 2020 NBA championship, ranks fourth in the league for points per game from being a screener in a pick and roll situation. Davis scores 4.6 points per game on that type of play at an efficient 1.28 points per possession.

The only bigs ahead in points per game from being a roll man? Domantas Sabonis, Alex Sarr and Ayton.

Ironically, Vucevic is sixth on that list at 4.5 points per game but at a least efficient 1.04 points per possession, and there's reasons for that. The 35-year-old Montenegrin has been more of a pick and pop player throughout his long career and if he rolls, let's be honest, he's playing below the rim - hardly providing the vertical lob threat needed to punch holes in defences around the league.

But for a player like Giddey, who despite improved percentages this season is not a consistent threat from beyond the three-point line, fans and some pundits around the NBA may say the former NBL Next Star needs a pick and pop big to provide spacing in the keyway to operate.

Only problem with that, the NBA has become a switching defence league. Meaning against the best teams and if the Bulls were to ever make the playoffs, teams would just switch that, taking away Vucevic's three-point ability and forcing Giddey into contested shots against switches.

Secondly, Davis can do both. He can pick and pop if needed, although he hasn't shot it at a high clip since the 2020 bubble playoffs and he's one of the best lob threats out of pick and roll in the NBA and has been for the entirety of his career. That threat puts pick and roll defences in two minds as Giddey attacks the paint, opening up lanes for the handler and roller or forcing a third defender into the play, creating opportunities for shooters on the three-point line.

Giddey has become the leader for the Bulls, doing so for most of this season without backcourt partner Coby White, who has struggled with injury and only played five games for three losses.

And to me, his rapid rise this season makes it a no-brainer for the Bulls front office to explore deals for Anthony Davis to help take the Melbourne Tigers product to the next level and also help the Bulls get back to the playoffs, allowing Giddey to play in meaningful games early in his career.

An Anthony Davis for Nikola Vucevic, Coby White and some draft capital trade works for both Chicago and Dallas. It allows the Mavericks to put a rising combo guard next to Flagg and attract some more young talent through the draft and gives the Bulls the supporting star Giddey needs.

Josh Giddey's 2025–26 numbers

19 GP │ 21.0 PTS │ 10.0 REB │ 9.2 AST │ 48.6% FG │ 39.1% 3P │ 73.7% FT │ 54.5% eFG │ PER 20.9 │ WS 1.8