Chicago Bulls: Long-term implications of the Nikola Vucevic trade

With the Orlando Magic star big man Nikola Vucevic being dealt to the Chicago Bulls, the buzz is rightfully so around the playoff chances of the team this year with both him and star shooting guard Zach LaVine.

But an interesting part of the trade is in the two first round picks that Chicago gave up to get Vucevic, in 2021 (top 4 protected) and 2023 (protections as of now unknown).

What makes the Nikola Vucevic trade significant for the Chicago Bulls?

With the Bulls having both LaVine and Vucevic on the roster, the plan is clearly to push for the playoffs and build from there. And with Chicago only being 1.5 games back from the eighth seed, you’d like their chances to push up as high as maybe 5-6.

If Chicago can establish themselves as a perennial playoff team in the near future, then losing these two picks won’t concern them. The worry is if this fit does not work.

The aforementioned 2021 first rounder is top 4 protected, meaning unless Chicago plummets down the standings further and ends up with a top 4 pick, it’s going to Orlando. If the Bulls do make the playoffs, then giving up a mid-first round pick to Orlando for an All-Star level center is no doubt a win for the Bulls.

But the worry lies if Chicago finishes where they are currently, in the middle of the East, and are unable to keep their pick. Couple this with the fact that Vucevic is already 30 years old, and there could be a situation where he begins to decline before the Bulls can continue to develop around him.

This concern is further exemplified if by 2023 a scenario happens where Chicago is left with a 33-year-old Vucevic and a LaVine who may or may not leave in 2022, all culminating in a team that is unable to crack the playoffs. In this instance, then giving up another lottery pick to Orlando feels like a kick in the face and the ultimate worst-case situation.

What are the odds of this happening?

In all likeliness, the chances the Bulls are unable to make this fit work is unlikely. Billy Donovan has proven in Oklahoma City that he can get multiple offensives threats to co-exist in the same team, with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant/Paul George.

And in any case, a trade felt needed for this Bulls team, who felt so close yet so far away from making the playoffs. Now with two 2021 All-Stars on this roster, the playoffs feel like more than an attainable goal. Chicago may have potentially just turned into a team that no team atop the East wants to run into, in the first round.