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The Bulls and Sixers had talks a few weeks back about a deal involving Jahlil Okafor, who the Sixers are a little desperate to unload given the emergence of Joel Embiid. With the trade deadline rapidly approaching on Thursday, those talks are gaining traction: 

Those talks have reportedly been centered around Nikola Mirotic, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. Mirotic, a “shooter’ with a 29 percent 3-point mark this season, is expendable for Chicago with its available stretch fours in Bobby Portis and Cristiano Felicio. Mirotic is athletic and has a good rebound rate, better than Jahlil Okafor’s relative to position. But Okafor’s younger, still huge, and still has a promising set of post moves. 

The Bulls are reportedly not taking offers for Jimmy Butler on Wednesday, after talks had been bandied about for weeks, including such talks with the Celtics on Wednesday, according to reports. Okafor would provide the Bulls with a key young component to build around, but Chicago’s front office has been reticent to commit to a full rebuild. The Bulls don’t want Mirotic, the Sixers don’t want Okafor. It’s a discount swap, but it makes sense for both sides. We’ll see if they reach an agreement before the deadline.