Chicago Bulls News: Team foolishly defends Nikola Vucevic trade

The Nikola Vucevic trade was a franchise-altering trade for the Chicago Bulls at the 2021 NBA Trade Deadline as the Chicago Bulls decided that they needed to forgo the development of center Wendell Carter Jr. as the team made their intentions clear with acquiring the All-Star center from the Orlando Magic.

The full trade is now complete as the Bulls gave up Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr., and two first-round picks for Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu. With the two first-round picks, the Magic selected Franz Wagner in the 2021 NBA Draft and on Thursday, selected Jett Howard with the 11th overall selection.

Meanwhile, the Bulls have yet to win a post-season series since that trade and Vucevic is set to become a free agent at the end of the month though the veteran center is expected to re-sign with the team.

The only way to view the Vucevic trade for the Bulls is an object failure. The motive for the Bulls behind the trade was to acquire an All-Star caliber player that would aid in their efforts to persuade Zach LaVine to remain with the team.

LaVine, of course, has since signed a maximum contract extension with the Bulls but has consistently been mentioned in trade rumors.

In the summer, after the Vucevic trade, the Bulls continued to put all their chips toward the middle of the table with the sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan and signing point guard Lonzo Ball. Ball may never play basketball again and DeRozan’s offensive skillset prevents the team from being able to utilize Vucevic as was originally intended.

There was a clear misevaluation that was made by the Bulls’ front office in regard to how they constructed the team’s core. LaVine’s contract severely limits what the team can do in free agency and even if the team did not make a selection, the two first-round draft picks they traded to the Magic could have been used to acquire a better fit for the direction of this team.

The Chicago Bulls front office continues to defend a trade that has become a clear mistake.

That would be the reason why Bulls’ fans should feel offended when the Bulls’ lead basketball executive Arturas Karnisovas defended the trade on Thursday night after the 2023 NBA Draft. 

"“I think that transaction when we brought Vooch here showed everyone that we’re trying to win,” Karnišovas said. “I think once we brought Vooch, we brought in DeMar (DeRozan), we brought Alex Caruso, we brought ‘Zo (Lonzo Ball). That started trying to improve our team and trying to be competitive. I thought that deal worked out pretty well for us.”-NBC Sports Chicago"

Sure, the Bulls were trying to win with the moves that they made beginning with the Vucevic trade but here is the catch, they haven’t won in the two-year window that they had. To that end, and by those parameters, the move has not worked out well for the Bulls and has resulted in the team willingly returning to basketball purgatory.