It’s hard to say what the Chicago Bulls are up to this offseason, as they made trades that sent them towards a rebuild but have also made confusing signings that indicate something else.
If the Bulls truly want to rebuild, they likely need to trade both Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, two flawed players on bloated contracts who are nevertheless too good to fully allow the Bulls to tank and keep their 2025 draft pick.
The Vucevic trade looked ok for the Bulls at the start but has evolved into one of Arturas Karnisovas’ worst deals, one that cost them a chance at Franz Wagner and has become a dead weight on the payroll.
Vucevic isn’t a complete sunk cost, as he can still put up counting numbers on offense, but his inability to defend in space or protect the rim makes him a liability at the other end.
The Bulls have tried to drum up a Vucevic trade market with little success, but there is one team out there that might be just desperate enough to take on the two years remaining on his deal.
Chicago Bulls trade rumors: Sending Nikola Vucevic to the New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans are an interesting team in the Western Conference, as they have title aspirations and went out this summer to make a big addition to help get them there in Dejounte Murray.
But they currently don’t have a starting center.
Their depth chart shows rookie Yves Missi, who is currently injured, and journeyman Daniel Theis, so the Pelicans will be trying to add talent there.
A Brandon Ingram trade would likely get them the center they need, but he’s on an expiring deal with a big pay raise coming, so the market for him has been as dead as the one for Zach LaVine.
But the Pelicans could likely land Vucevic without Ingram being a part of it, though making the salaries work would be tricky without getting a third team involved.
If the Bulls were interested in CJ McCollum, some combination of Vucevic/Chris Duarte or Vucevic/Jevon Carter would work financially, though I’m not sure either team would be interested.
McCollum presents the same problems as Vucevic, though he’s still a more productive player, as he is under contract for two more years and could possibly make the Bulls good enough to lose their draft pick.
The ideal situation is the Bulls bringing in a third team that wanted to take on McCollum’s salary, a team like the Detroit Pistons, who have the financial flexibility to do it and are trying to improve in the win column with a young team.
As for his fit on the court, Vucevic’s defensive weaknesses would somewhat be covered by guys like Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III and theoretically, his ability to spread the floor is a nice fit with Zion Williamson.
The Vucevic trade ended up being a bad one for Chicago, but they can still salvage something or at least increase their chances of keeping their pick by finding a trade partner for him.