Bulls undid years of damage in just 24 hours with two Nikola Vucevic upgrades

Eventually, it would all work out. Though that's not a quote, it certainly seemed to be the Chicago Bulls' ideology over the past five years. Their vision of Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic leading them to the promised land was seen through until the bitter end—when trades had been put off, market values had depreciated, and the future became a question mark.

In just 24 hours, however, the Bulls undid years of damage by investing in two players, Nic Claxton and Caleb Wilson, who have helped the team officially move on from the last star from that era.

Vucevic entered the 2025-26 season as the last remnant of the failed vision that Chicago just wouldn't fully admit had failed them. Former lead executive Artūras Karnišovas refused to say the word, "Rebuild," but when the Bulls hired new leadership this past summer, a rebuild finally commenced.

Chicago not only embraced the future, but prioritized weaknesses that Vucevic played a part in the existence of. That started when they traded for Claxton.

Roughly 24 hours after acquiring a defensive-minded big to help anchor the interior in a way Vucevic's skill set was never suited to, the Bulls replaced their All-Star big man's offensive value with Wilson.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, Chicago went from holding on to Vucevic for too long to having two new building blocks to build the interior around.

Bulls' first priority was clear: Truly moving on from Nikola Vucevic

Claxton is an athletic and remarkably versatile defensive player who can meet slashers at the rim and guard perimeter players out to 24 feet. In 2025-26, he ranked in the 82nd percentile in rim protection, the 89th percentile in post defense and screener rim defense, and the 65th percentile in perimeter isolation defense, per Basketball Index.

Vucevic was at times underrated as an interior defender, but his lack of mobility along the perimeter left him susceptible to the pick and roll—a common tactic that often played on his weaknesses.

Wilson, meanwhile, has the potential to be one of the best offensive big men in his class. During his stellar freshman season in 2025-26, he averaged 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.8 offensive boards, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.4 blocks while shooting at a clip of .578/.259/.713.

Widely heralded as one of the top four prospects in the 2026 NBA Draft, Wilson has the offensive skill set and untapped potential to fill the All-Star void Vucevic left behind.

Though it took two players to do so, the Bulls needed to make both moves to usher in the new era. They have quality along the perimeter with the likes of Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey, but lacked any semblance of a direction at the interior positions even before Vucevic was traded in February.

Thankfully, after years of optimistic team-building that failed to truly embrace reality, the Bulls have finally moved on from a once promising era that ended years before Chicago accepted its fate.

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