The Chicago Bulls have a rising star in Josh Giddey — an All-Star–caliber engine powering their offense and dragging the team back into relevance. But as Giddey’s game continues to evolve at a frightening pace, one brutal truth has become impossible to ignore: Chicago is missing the one weapon every elite point guard relies on. A vertical lob threat. A true above-the-rim finisher who forces defenses to collapse, rotate, panic… and ultimately break. And that missing piece may be pointing directly toward one name: Anthony Davis.
Across the league, the elite creators all operate with this luxury. Luka Dončić walked into Los Angeles and immediately demanded it — and DeAndre Ayton’s career revival has turned into one of the season’s most stunning transformations. Jalen Brunson has Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has Chet Holmgren. Cade Cunningham has Jalen Duren. These partnerships aren’t accidental. They’re the blueprint of modern NBA spacing.
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Giddey? He has Nikola Vucevic — a smart, skilled, reliable veteran… but not someone who terrifies defenses at the rim. Vooch is a pick-and-pop maestro, a high-IQ contributor, a steadying presence. But a lob threat? A rim-runner? A vertical gravity magnet? Not even close. And in a league where switching defenses are suffocating ball-handlers, that limitation becomes glaring in late-game possessions and playoff environments.
That’s exactly where Anthony Davis enters the conversation.
A 10-time All-Star, Chicago native, former champion, and still one of the league’s most lethal pick-and-roll bigs, Davis ranks top-four in the NBA in scoring as a roll man — generating 4.6 points per game at a blistering 1.28 points per possession. That’s elite. That’s rare. That’s exactly what Giddey needs. Davis can still pop, still punish switches, but most importantly, he elevates above the rim in a way Vucevic simply can’t.
And with the Dallas Mavericks spiraling after the Dončić–Davis blockbuster collapse, the timing feels explosive. Sitting near the bottom of the West and desperate to rebuild around No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, Dallas is quietly preparing to reset. Davis, suddenly, is more available than at any point since his original departure from New Orleans. The door is cracked open — and Chicago, finally armed with a true rising star, has every reason to force it wide.
For the Bulls, the fit is almost too perfect. Imagine Giddey attacking downhill with Davis lurking above the rim. Imagine forcing defenses into impossible choices: collapse and give up open threes… or stay home and watch Davis feast at the basket. It’s the exact dynamic that turned Dončić into an MVP front-runner and Ayton into a revitalized force. Giddey’s size, vision, and timing would unlock Davis instantly — and vice versa.
Critics might argue that Giddey needs spacing, a pick-and-pop big, a shooter parked behind the arc. But that theory collapses under modern defensive trends. Switching neutralizes pops. Switching neutralizes static spacing. What switching cannot neutralize is vertical gravity — the threat of a lob over the top, the fear of a high-flying finisher turning every pick-and-roll into a two-on-one at the rim. Davis is that threat. Vucevic, for all his contributions, is not.
And as Giddey continues to lead Chicago — often without backcourt partner Coby White, who has battled injuries all season — the urgency grows. The Bulls need reinforcements. They need another star. They need someone who can turn Giddey’s brilliance into something sustainable, something dangerous, something playoff-ready.
Which leads to the most logical move of all:
Anthony Davis for Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, and draft capital.
Dallas gets youthful backcourt firepower to pair with Cooper Flagg and flexibility for the future. Chicago gets a superstar big who instantly elevates the franchise’s ceiling and accelerates Giddey’s development into all-NBA territory.
The league is watching. The window is open. The question now is simple — and electrifying:
Will Chicago finally make the bold move their rising star deserves?
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