Revisiting The Chicago Bulls’ Blockbuster Trade For Nikola Vucevic

The Chicago Bulls went into the 2021 NBA trade deadline losers of four of five to drop to a mediocre 19-24 on the 2020-21 NBA season. The last game before the deadline was an especially discouraging home loss to the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers. With the Bulls in the midst of yet another down campaign, their new front office led by Arturas Karnisovas decided it was time to make a big splash.

Out of nowhere, Chicago made a blockbuster trade with the Orlando Magic to acquire All-Star center Nikola Vucevic, who was averaging 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting 48.0% from the field and 40.6% from 3-point range at the time of the deal. As part of the trade, the Bulls included Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and a pair of protected first-round picks. Chicago also took on Al-Farouq Aminu in the deal.

At the time, it was a bold stroke to help make the Bulls more credible for a postseason push and to give Zach LaVine an All-Star running mate with his free agency approaching in 2022. There were some questions about just what was needed to get the deal done, but this new front office clearly wanted to do something big after a quiet first offseason.

Now after a season and a half of Vucevic, this trade can currently be viewed as a mixed bag at best, especially given how much of the future Chicago mortgaged to get him.

The Bulls failed to even make the play-in tournament in 2021 after trading for Vucevic, though it’s hard to blame him much as he averaged 21.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists while shooting 47.1% from the field and 38.8% from 3-point land. Zach LaVine catching Covid-19 late in the season was a big problem, and Chicago never got a good chance to build chemistry with its new roster. Remember, the Bulls also made another trade to shake things up by bringing in Daniel Theis and Troy Brown Jr, and the fit of the new roster was a bit awkward.

Chicago continued its major overhaul this past offseason, bringing in Ayo Dosunmu in the draft and then acquiring three key pieces in Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan (Aminu was used in this sign-and-trade) and Alex Caruso in free agency. Vucevic helped recruit his former USC Trojans teammate in DeRozan to the Bulls, though that $81.9 million contract did plenty of talking as well.

While Chicago got off to a terrific start to the 2021-22 campaign, Vucevic was inconsistent and often downright bad in terms of scoring efficiency. His efficiency ticked up as the season went on, but the Bulls slipped in the latter part of the season as injuries, roster flaws and a tougher schedule resulted in them cratering on both ends. They went from the top of the Eastern Conference after 60 games (39-21) to sixth (46-36).

The season ended with a mostly ugly five-game series loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. Vucevic was fine in the series, averaging 19.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 blocks while shooting 44.0% from the field and 31.0% from 3-point range on 8.4 3-point attempts per game. The Bucks dared Vucevic to beat them from long range throughout, but he wasn’t able to do it consistently enough, which was a theme for him all season after he shot so well from deep in 2020-21. He only hit 31.4% of his 3-pointers in the regular season on 4.5 attempts per game after hitting 40.0% from 3 on 6.3 attempts per game in 2020-21.

That 3-point shooting in 2020-21 is looking like an outlier based on his career numbers (34.8%), and perhaps it was because of the lack of fans in the stands for much of the season due to Covid-19. The massive decline this season is a troubling sign for the 31-year-old, who doesn’t get to the line much and otherwise relies on a diet of flip shots, floaters and mid-range jumpers to score.

Vucevic’s defense is also a major talking point. While not as bad as his worst critics say because of his generally solid positioning, quick hands and basketball IQ, he was exposed with Ball and Caruso out. He’s not imposing as a rim protector and struggles to defend on the perimeter, which is an issue other slow-footed centers often have in the playoffs when other teams turn to 5-out offense.

Vucevic’s weaknesses can be covered to a certain extent by strong defenders around him, but it’s admittedly an issue for the Bulls that their top three players are offense-first stars. The trio of Vucevic-DeRozan-LaVine played 1,206 minutes in the regular season together and posted a 112.1 offensive rating and 113.2 defensive rating, according to NBA.com. While the defense was a bit better with these three on the court in the playoffs (108.3), the offense totally fell off a cliff (101.2), which was due to a variety of factors.

So, while Chicago enjoyed a successful season in 2021-22, there are legitimate questions about the viability of this core. Vucevic’s decline plays into this, making it only fair to question just how much the Bulls gave up to get him. The idea of the trade still makes a lot of sense because Chicago needed to do something and Vucevic is a good player with a relatively rare offensive skill set for a center (his passing from the middle of the court is underrated), but the trade is undoubtedly looking worse in hindsight and wondering if he was the right player to cash in so many chips on has merit.

This is true even if you subscribe to the belief that Vucevic’s presence truly played a pivotal role in DeRozan choosing the Bulls. The narrative could flip if Chicago takes another big step forward in the coming years with Vucevic playing a key role in some capacity (whether it’s his play or him being used to acquire somebody better), but right now there’s a possibility this trade goes down as a major loss.

Carter had the best season of his young career with averages of 15.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting 52.5% from the field and 32.7% from 3-point land. Yes, it was on a bad Magic team and Carter probably needed a fresh start away from Chicago, but he remains a promising player at just 23 years old and could be more impactful than Vucevic very soon.

The Bulls sent the No. 8 pick to Orlando in 2021 because of the Vucevic trade, which became Franz Wagner. The Michigan product made the All-Rookie First Team and averaged 15.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists while shooting 46.8% from the field and 35.4% from 3-land.

Chicago still owes a 2023 pick to Orlando, which is protected 1-4 in 2023 and 1-3 in 2024. This will almost certainly convey in 2023 unless the Bulls are somehow a disaster next season and then get lucky in the lottery.

What’s done is done, though, and now Chicago must decide on Vucevic’s future. He’s set to enter the final year of his contract and will make a reasonable $22 million. An extension this offseason is far-fetched, but assuming LaVine re-signs in free agency, the likeliest scenario is Vucevic is back to start the 2022-23 season. LaVine leaving could potentially shift the entire mindset of the front office and would be another strike against the Vucevic trade.

But even if LaVine is back, the Bulls still must explore their options with Vucevic because of his decline and those question marks surrounding the current core. Getting another player as good as Vucevic would be tough, but shaking things up in an attempt to create a more well-rounded team with more youth makes sense. Names like Deandre Ayton, Myles Turner, Mitchell Robinson and Mo Bamba could be possible targets, though none of these players are slam-dunk moves and it’s unclear just how gettable they will even be. There will be other options out there as well.

At the very least, Chicago needs a better backup for Vucevic in 2022-23. Tony Bradley and Tristan Thompson didn’t work out. Youngster Marko Simonovic wasn’t trusted to play at all besides garbage time and shouldn’t be counted on moving forward. Derrick Jones Jr. as a small-ball 5 had its moments, but Jones can’t do that regularly and might not be back. Patrick Williams getting more of an opportunity to be a small-ball center at times is intriguing, but he still has to prove he can be effective at any position.

This is all to say the Bulls must address the center position this offseason. Keeping Vucevic wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world because he is still helpful despite this trade not living up to expectations, but changes are a must at the position in some fashion. Lineup versatility is important, so Chicago has work to do to figure things out on this front.