Nikola Vucevic of the Chicago Bulls spoke recently at Goran Dragic’s farewell ceremony and offered some candid thoughts about why the Bulls had a mediocre 39 wins last season and where they might be headed in the future.
Vucevic’s comments not only reflected some of the key issues the Bulls have had with injuries, but gave some insight into how constant trade talk affected the locker room, while expressing uncertainty about the future.
The original interview is courtesy of Meridian Sport and you can read the translation on Basket News.
Nikola Vucevic on Lonzo Ball
“Since Lonzo Ball’s injury, we haven’t been able to achieve the results we could have,” Vucevic said...When he played, we were at the top of the East for a while, which maybe wasn’t a realistic result, even though we were playing well, but with him, we would have fought for anything between third and sixth place in the end.”
“Could have” are the key words here, as there are a lot of things that could have happened over the last two seasons.
Losing Lonzo Ball was certainly a blow to the Bulls, as they were playing well with him and forming a defensive identity on the perimeter with Alex Caruso and Ayo Dosunmu.
Injuries to Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams last season didn’t help, but I would agree with Vucevic that it was the loss of Ball that really starting the team moving in the wrong direction.
Ball is trying to make medical history and was recently cleared for full contact practice, so we may finally get to see him play again, but it will be with a much different team than the last one he played with.
The question is whether it will matter, as Lonzo is on an expiring contract, so the best the Bulls can hope for is that he plays well enough to be traded or can at least contribute some stability to the guard ranks.
Nikola Vucevic on Chicago Bulls trade rumors
Vucevic also gave some insight into the environment around the team last season and how it might have affected their play:
“Trade talks also affected us, preventing us from achieving the results we thought we could...”
Trade rumors are part of the business of the NBA and there were plenty of them hovering over the Bulls last season. You’d like to think these are professionals and it wouldn’t bother them but they are also humans and it’s difficult to tune out the entire ecosystem of media dedicated to possible trades.
For all of the talk, the Bulls did nothing at the trade deadline to boost a team they claimed had a chance at the playoffs, nor did they sell off their best trade assets for maximum value when it was clear they weren’t a real playoff contender.
Considering the Bulls are stuck in the exact same position now with guys like Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Zach LaVine and Vucevic himself, I’d say he better prepare for a non-stop onslaught of trade rumors this season.
Sorry, Vooch, but I’d suggest staying off social media and Bleacher Report until after the trade deadline.
Nikola Vucevic on the uncertain future of the Chicago Bulls
Vucevic doesn’t know where this team is headed, join the club. The Bulls started a kind of/sort of rebuild this summer, but it was a half measure considering they still have LaVine and Vucevic, who might make them just good enough to lose their top-10 protected pick in 2025.
“DeRozan left, Caruso left, the team got younger, and they wanted to go in a different direction,” Vucevic said. “We’ll see how the season goes, and then decisions will be made based on that.”
The last part aptly summarizes where the Bulls are, as they could try to compete all season again if they get off to a good start, or start trading away assets for future draft picks and younger players if they don’t.
Vucevic pretty much nailed it, as injuries and uncertainty around the roster are big parts of why the Bulls have underperformed and why they are currently stuck in the mediocre gray area between the playoffs and a rebuild.