NEWSLETTER
If the Chicago Bulls were hovering their hand over self-destruct, Matas Buzelis helped them slam the button on Wednesday night.
Arturas Karnisovas selected the six-foot-nine 19-year-old with the No. 11 pick in the NBA Draft. Speaking with reporters after the pleasantly surprising move, Karnisovas stressed that “everything” was on the table as he looks to reshape this roster. This included a rather drastic change in tune regarding the future of DeMar DeRozan. Previously insisting that the plan was to keep him around, Karnisovas gave a far more political response to the idea of re-signing the veteran. We spoke more about that last night.
Now, one day after the draft, a new report furthers the narrative that Chicago is embracing a youth movement. Matt Moore of the Action Network has shared that the team is surveying the market for their starting big man:
“The Bulls are known to be looking to move Nikola Vucevic, along with the never-ending Zach LaVine saga. The Caruso trade both helps and hurts those efforts because Caruso’s contract was a quality lubricant for teams willing to take on those contracts, which now isn’t available.”
You can check out Moore’s full intel piece here.
Can the Bulls Move Nikola Vucevic?
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve raised suspension about Nikola Vucevic’s future in Chicago. My eyebrow first raised when we heard that the Bulls were investigating a possible move up the draft for big man Donovan Clingan.
Shortly after this rumor, the Bulls were linked to Purdue’s Zach Edey and current Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela. While the rumors varied in believability, they all represented one thing – a shift away from the team’s current starting big man.
Those rumors all felt like they were leading to the report that Moore shared Thursday morning. A Nikola Vucevic trade is reportedly now on the table, and there aren’t many more indicators that this most recent era is over than that. Vucevic was the backbone of what will sarcastically go down as the “Continuity Experiment.” Karnisovas traded multiple first-round picks to the Magic for the two-time All-Star in 2021 before his ultra-aggressive offseason. He also went on to re-sign the center to a three-year, $60.0 million deal that offseason.
Does it underscore this franchise’s incompetence that only one year after giving Vucevic a new contract they are looking to trade him? Of course. But that’s also a sunk cost at this point. The Bulls are at least (seemingly) realizing the errors of their ways.
Nonetheless, we now have to wonder whether or not the Bulls will actually find a suitor for Vucevic. The good news is that he’s still a double-double machine who averaged 18.0 points and 10.5 rebounds last year. He’s also a good screen, popper, and connective passer. The bad news is that he shot a ghastly 29.4 percent from downtown last season and lacks any real rim protection skills. Not to mention, $20.0 million annually isn’t cheap for a center in today’s NBA!
I don’t necessarily think the Bulls would have to attach assets to get rid of Vucevic – nor do I think they would. But I also think we’re not talking about much more than salary filled and perhaps second-rounders for Vucevic. Maybe if the Bulls could find a team that had at least SOME interest in Vucevic and a bad contract to trade they could secure a first-rounder or young player. For example, Will Gottlieb of CHGO pitched an idea that involved the Warriors …
Regardless, I don’t expect a vibrant market to emerge for the center, which will make the next couple of weeks interesting. He wouldn’t be the worst member of the “Big 3” to keep around. A young team needs veteran experience, and playing more through Nikola Vucevic next season could allow Chicago to boost his value before the trade deadline. If he can even return his 3-ball to around 34.0 percent, interest could balloon.
