The Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics are headed in opposite directions — Chicago toward the bottom of the standings, Boston toward a title. Their paths crossed at the trade deadline, though, when the Celtics acquired Nikola Vucevic, and now the C's are discovering his fatal flaws that Bulls fans already know.
The 35-year-old is a minus defensively in every aspect. He's too slow to stick on the perimeter, but can't protect the rim in drop coverage. His offensive skill set isn't enough to compensate for his defensive deficiencies.
Those issues came back to bite Boston in a Game 2 loss to the 76ers in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Celtics learning a Nikola Vucevic problem Bulls fans have known for years
Chicago and Boston made a simple swap at the deadline: Vucevic for Anfernee Simons and a second-round pick. While the trade wasn’t a massive win for the Bulls — Simons only played six games in the Windy City — Boston came out on the losing end.
In 16 games with the Celtics, Vucevic has averaged 9.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting just 34.0 percent from three in 21.1 minutes per contest.
But things went even more sideways on April 21 against Philadelphia.
Vucevic played 18 minutes behind Neemias Queta as Boston's reserve center and finished as a -7. He scored nine points and added five rebounds, but was 1-for-4 from three.
On the flip side, former Bull Andre Drummond scored 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting (he hit one 3-pointer, the same as Vucevic) and grabbed eight rebounds in 26 minutes. He was a +12 on the night.
Drummond would've been a cheaper and more productive option for the Celtics, who are light on big men as it is — Luka Garza, the only other true center on the roster, played 1 minute and 52 seconds. Joe Mazzulla is being forced into playing Vucevic, and it remains an issue.
Vucevic deal was a rare trade deadline win for the Bulls
It wasn't a fantastic February for the now-extinct front office duo of Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley. Their deadline failures aren't the only reason they got fired, but they certainly didn't help.
It's hard to call this specific deal anything other than a win, though. Simons may have only played six games with the Bulls, but his $28 million expiring salary is playing a significant role in Chicago owning the most cap space of any team in the NBA this summer.
And that second-round pick cannot go unnoticed. It arrived from Boston via New Orleans and will be the 38th overall selection in June's draft. Counting the extra first-round pick they received from the Portland Trail Blazers, the Bulls will have three selections in the top 38 versus only one.
It's unfortunate Karnisovas couldn't pull off more deals like this one. If he found a way to deal a declining player like Vucevic for a massive expiring salary and a valuable draft pick, he may still have a job.
Though probably not.
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