Right near the deadline buzzer the Bulls and Thunder agreed to a trade that will give Oklahoma City quality depth and gets Chicago yet another young point guard prospect. The Thunder will acquire Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second round pick for Cameron Payne, Joffrey Lauvergne and Anthony Morrow.

The Thunder had been looking for ways to add depth up front and to add more shooting around Russell Westbrook. They accomplished both of those objectives with this trade and didn’t have to give up a significant rotation piece to do so.

Gibson gives Oklahoma City a veteran up front, who is willing to bang inside and do the dirty work. He pairs with Steven Adams to give the Thunder some incredible toughness from the big positions, which no other team in the league can match. With Enes Kanter still on the mend from a broken forearm and Domantas Sabonis an untested rookie, Gibson will give the Thunder a player they can turn to for consistent play off the bench.

McDermott could be a perfect fit for what Oklahoma City has lacked most of the year. All too often, Westbrook has hit the lane and kicked to shooters who miss over and over again. With McDermott, they should have a consistent shooter that can either start alongside Westbrook and Victor Oladipo, or least play big minutes off the bench behind Andre Roberson. For a team who has struggled to get scoring from their reserves, McDermott should fill that role nicely if they choose to bring him off the bench.

Oklahoma City did have to give up Payne, who was once a prized prospect after they drafted him in 2015, but with Westbrook carrying such a heavy minutes load they should be just fine. Payne missed a large portion of the season after suffering a foot injury and Semaj Christon was passable behind Westbrook during that time. Lauvergne had given the Thunder some decent production, but as a restricted free agent he wasn’t part of the long term future in Oklahoma City. And Morrow has bounced in and out of the rotation quite a bit and is replaced by the more capable McDermott

Grade for Oklahoma City: A

The Bulls faced a crossroads of sorts with Gibson and McDermott. Gibson was a longtime, productive player for the Bulls, but is a pending free agent and it might be time for a new home this summer. McDermott overlaps with Nikola Mirotic and with Mirotic being a restricted free agent, Chicago had to pick between the two of them. Given Mirotic has so far proven to have a higher ceiling, the Bulls went that direction and will likely look to retain him this summer.

Payne comes in as the next in a line of point guard hopefuls for Chicago. He flashed great promise as a rookie and could be handed the starting spot for the Bulls. Michael Carter-Williams and Jerian Grant haven’t seized the role and Rajon Rondo has dropped pretty far down in the rotation. Payne’s inconsistent jumper does nothing to solve the Bulls’ shooting issues, but he’s under contract for two more seasons and Chicago can work with him to develop him for the future.

Lauvergne will give Chicago some of the production they are losing in Gibson and they can get a look at him before he’s a restricted free agent this summer. Trading Gibson also frees up time at the power forward spot for Bobby Portis, who the Bulls remain very high on as a prospect. Morrow’s shooting ability could help Chicago, but it is unlikely he’ll make much of an impact.

The one real head-scratching part of this deal is that Chicago had to give up a 2018 second round pick. Considering the Bulls arguably gave up the two best players in the trade, it seems odd that they had to add a pick as well.

Grade for Chicago: C