The Chicago Bulls' decision-making prowess has never been lauded, at least since Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley took over in 2020. The "AKME" regime has notoriously been idle, lacking the wherewithal to make timely trades and striking while the iron is hot.
Yet, Karnišovas and Eversley aren't solely to be held at fault. Bulls Owner Jerry Reinsdorf has been unwilling to splurge despite owning one of the association's most valuable organizations. Chicago has paid merely $8.13 million in taxes since 2002. Only six teams have paid less in tax penalties over the same timespan.
Nevertheless, Karnišovas and Eversley do the best (we hope) with what they have to work with. However, that's not to say all their decisions are always wise or even logical. For instance, the Bulls' Front Office has held onto desirable assets for far too long, only to trade them for distressed assets coming off their worst professional campaigns, two years in a row.
Of course, we're referencing the Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey and the Lonzo Ball for Isaac Okoro swaps. While both trades will likely pay off, the mismanagement of assets is damning considering both players could have been traded for first-round draft capital.
Still, neither trade is deplorable enough to condemn as the Bulls' worst move of the decade. Giddey is the superior player to Caruso, and he's nearly 10 years younger. Moreover, even though Okoro has yet to suit up for the Bulls, he's three years younger than Ball and is much more durable.
ESPN ranked the Vucevic trade as the ninth-biggest mistake this decade
Chicago's biggest mistake of the decade, at least according to ESPN, is trading for no other than Nikola Vučević. Zach Kram, who penned the article, prefaced by stating, "The Bulls' biggest mistake this decade might be a broader one, as they've continually aimed for the middle of the standings rather than following the tank-and-rebuild cycle that most NBA teams employ when they have little hope of contention."
Kram's opening sentiment is ostensibly true. The Bulls' stagnant nature has held them back from both climbing and descending the Eastern Conference standings. But that's more or less a cop out. Kram identified the Vučević acquisition as what kickstarted the Bulls' malaise.
Revisiting the ill-fated trade, Chicago sent Wendell Carter Jr. (21 years old at the time of the trade), Otto Porter Jr., and two unprotected first-round picks in exchange for Vučević and Al-Farouq Aminu. For what it's worth, Aminu appeared in six games for the Bulls and was out of the NBA come the offseason.
Essentially, the Bulls dealt an up-and-coming Carter Jr., Franz Wagner, and Jett Howard for 30-year-old Vučević. That's right, the Magic used Chicago's unprotected 2021 first-round to acquire Wagner, a future All-Star in this league.
Although the now-34-year-old center has produced in a Bulls' uniform, his defensive shortcomings have been too much to overcome for the routinely defensively challenged Bulls. Kram pointed out Vučević's weakness on the less glamorous end, stating, "…because of his defensive difficulties, there's a firm ceiling on a team with Vucevic in the middle…"
In the exercise, Kram identified each team's biggest mistake since 2020, and ranked them accordingly. The Bulls came in at ninth-place, falling under the second tier, "Too high a cost for too little reward."