3 biggest disappointments for the Bulls in the first half of the season
Chicago Bulls’ biggest disappointments from the first half: Nikola Vucevic
It’s easy to rag on the shortcomings for two-time All-Star center Nikola Vucevic as he struggled mightily in the double-digit loss ot the Grizzlies on Jan. 17. But you have to take the bigger picture into account when looking at how the addition of Vucevic has really worked out for the Bulls thus far.
Vucevic was the big addition for the Bulls at the trade deadline last season. And he looked like he was a key piece of the big three for the Bulls heading into this season once the team went out to get star forward DeMar DeRozan from the San Antonio Spurs.
But Vucevic was anything but a star for much of the first half of the regular season for the Bulls. That is apparent in the fact that much of his advanced metrics are the worst he’s posted since the mid-2010s with the Orlando Magic.
You have to go all the way back to Vucevic’s fourth year in the NBA, during the 2014-15 season, to find the last time he had a box plus/minus at or below 1.1. His 17.8 player efficiency rating is the worst mark of any season in his career since 2013-14.
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Vucevic is really struggling to shoot the three-ball this season, hitting his looks from beyond the arc at a clip of just 32.7 percent. His field goal percentage is also at a career-worst mark of 43.5.
All in all, Vucevic just isn’t performing up to par so far this season. He’s coming out flat on offense and just not hitting open shorts. Vucevic went from being one of the most versatile and potent offneisve threats among big men in the Eastern Conference with the Magic in the late 2010s to a pretty pedestrian center for the Bulls in the first half of this season.