Because of the Ball injury, and DeMar’s contract situation - I have CHI in the “if not clearly in the playoff hunt, blow it up by the TD” tier.

If/when…

You know that even if Ball can come back, it won’t be in CHI, and you are going to waive and stretch that last year - Ideally you want a player on the last year of their rookie scale deal, who’s cap hold/contract helps keep you right at the cap, so you can sign a full MLE. Ball’s stretch + MLE fills that contract slot for the next three years.

DeMar’s value is as a “win now” experienced vet. That limits the number of teams, and what they have to offer. Place holder contracts, maybe less valuable future assets, “lower value” prospects, etc.

Vuc is the most “interchangeable” player, in that his contract is right there with most of the “traditional bigs” in the league. If CHI goes that direction, MEM could be a team in need of a vet big, that has a contract and “assets”.

If Zach doesn’t get moved, one more player in that White/Williams age/contract range, some assets, use the exemptions, and CHI is more in reset than rebuild territory.

For the contract? From the perspective of can it be traded / what is the value of that specific contract “value”…

Jaden has a PP contract because of the rookie extension. So technically speaking, there might only be one or two teams that you possibly could move him to, and make all the money/bodies work. It’s about an average starter level contract, so as long as he plays up to that, the contract is fine.

Reeves has a 15% trade kicker, which adds a wrinkle, but he’s on a “mid-level” contact. You can move those contracts around with more teams, because all those exemption contracts are about the same amount / within the +/- threshold. If he plays up to about a mid-level contract, that contract is fine.