Bulls pay Magic with picks to take Anthony Randolph, who will be waived

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Anthony Randolph could be on the move yet again, this time without even playing a game on his latest stop around the NBA.

Acquired by the Chicago Bulls on draft night as part of a pick swap with the Denver Nuggets, Randolph will now be on his way to Orlando...and then probably somewhere else, too.

This comes according to Sam Amick of USA Today Sports (later confirmed by the Magic), who reports that the Bulls will be paying the Magic with two second-round picks to take on Randolph, and the Magic are then expected to waive him. The Bulls will receive the rights to Milovan Rakovic, a 2007 draft pick, in the deal, only because they have to receive something under league rules.

The move is a fairly obvious one for the Bulls, who need every penny of cap space as they continue to retool their roster for the coming season. Randolph is owed a guaranteed $1.83 million for 2014-15, a fact that made his inclusion in the draft-night deal somewhat curious to begin with.

Now, the Bulls have essentially paid the No. 16 pick, the No. 19 pick, a 2015 second-round pick, and the two second-round picks they'll send to Orlando, all for the No. 11 pick in this year's draft (Doug McDermott). That's a heavy price, even if McDermott does look promising in Summer League so far.

For the Magic, this is a no-brainer. They may not reach the salary floor, anyway, so receiving a pair of future picks to take on a salary is exactly the type of move they should be making.

The only loser here is Randolph, who will have now been a part of six different teams in six-plus seasons, and could land on a seventh as a free agent once waived. Still just 24 years old, the 2008 No. 14 pick has never put his length and athleticism to good use, averaging 7.1 points and 4.3 rebounds in 15.2 minutes over 252 games. There is still some upside here, and his career player efficiency rating of 16.5 is above-average, but it's approaching the point where Randolph will be lucky to get a fully guaranteed contract.