A loss for second-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls on the road on the night of Nov. 12 at the hands of superstar point guard Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors showed some gaps in this team. A lot of those gaps were likely exposed due to the fact that the Bulls were missing two-time All-Star center Nikola Vucevic.
Donovan and the Bulls are likely going to be missing Vucevic for at least the next few games too as he’s out due to the league’s health and safety protocol. This news came down heading into the weekend, and it looks like Vucevic will miss a minimum of 10 days due to the league’s health and safety protocol.
While Vucevic did get off to a slow start this season, at least by his usual standard, the importance he brings to the table for the Bulls really showed in this double-digit loss to the Warriors on Nov. 12. This was the worst loss of the season thus far for the Bulls in terms of scoring margin.
How the Chicago Bulls can make up for lost depth with Nikola Vucevic out?
It will be interesting to see how Donovan and the Bulls respond to this loss to the Warriors in the next phase of this mini Western Conference road trip when they take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 14.
But the Bulls might have to find other solutions to the problem of Vucevic’s absence. While the likes of center Tony Bradley and power forward Alize Johnson are key pieces to the Bulls’ bench, it doesn’t look like they will bring the type of presence to the table in the starting unit that this team needs to beat playoff contenders.
If the Bulls wanted to turn to free agency to find an answer to some of the potential lack of frontcourt depth in the absence of Vucevic, here’s a look into three free agents they could sign.