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Report: Bulls pushed hard to acquire Thunder's Roberson

Kelley L Cox / USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Bulls swung and missed.

The team pushed to get swingman Andre Roberson from the Oklahoma City Thunder, a source told The Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson.

When reports initially surfaced that the teams struck a deal on trade deadline day, Roberson was seen hugging people - presumably goodbye - and tweeted the following:

However, the trade deadline passed Thursday afternoon, and the 25-year-old was still with OKC.

Instead, Chicago settled for a reported package that includes Cameron Payne, Joffrey Lauvergne, and Anthony Morrow in exchange for Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott, and a 2018 second-round pick on trade deadline day.

Roberson is an elite defender but isn't a reliable shooter. He's averaging 6.6 points on 43.7 percent shooting from the field and just 24.1 percent from long range. He also chips in 5.1 boards, 1.2 steals, a block, and a dime in 30 minutes per game and makes the team 7.2 points better when he's on the floor.

His rookie deal expires after this season, and it's believed the Thunder want to re-sign the restricted free agent this summer.

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