3 players the Bulls could be replacing in the 2022 NBA Draft

1. Nikola Vucevic

Of all the players on this list, Nikola Vucevic is the least likely to get replaced outright through the draft. Only Jalen Duren and Mark Williams have the potential as centers to assume a starting role right away, and even then it’s unlikely either would get the call to start over Vucevic. It’s also even more unlikely either player falls to the Bulls without trading up in the first place.

The draft does, however, open an opportunity for the Bulls to find an upgrade for Vucevic. Since the Bulls cannot trade their 18th pick until the draft officially begins, we can assume the front office is weighing their plethora of options as you read this.

Among the top big man talents on the rumor mill right now, Rudy Gobert, Deandre Ayton, and Myles Turner stand above the rest. It’s impossible to know just how likely it is for the Bulls to trade for any of these players (I’m erring on the side of “won’t believe it until I see it”), but these three comprise the most obvious routes for the Bulls to improve and potentially upgrade from Vucevic.

Gobert is the one player on this list who has been linked as being connected to the Bulls, described as the “most likely destination” for Utah’s big man in any trade scenario by Marc Stein. Although, Bulls beat reporter K.C. Johnson doused those rumors, reporting “the [Gobert] rumors are overstated.”

As we saw with the Vucevic and DeRozan trades, however, the Chicago Bulls aren’t a team to show their hand often or early. On both occasions, the fans were completely blindsided by the news, instead of being led down the typical rabbit hole of rumors by NBA reporters. All this is to say we won’t know for certain the fate of Vucevic until the draft plays out tonight, but he’s certainly on the hot seat.