3 Stars the Bulls wish they acquired instead of Nikola Vucevic
It’s easy to look back and say what a team did wrong with the gift of hindsight, especially when you are talking about the Chicago Bulls.
In retrospect, nearly every move Arturas Karnisovas has made has hurt the Bulls in the long run, which is how they ended up as a losing team with few ways to improve.
Arguably his worst move was the trade for Nikola Vucevic, as the Bulls gave up precious draft assets to acquire him, which didn’t lead to much winning and he is now on a deal they would love to get off of.
Vucevic’s counting numbers don’t tell the whole story of his decline in efficiency and defense, as he was a negative for Chicago last season and still has two years left on his bloated deal.
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The Bulls would love a do-over on this one, especially when you look at some of the players they could have had if they had never made this trade.
The Chicago Bulls could have drafted Franz Wagner
The Bulls were clearly looking for win-now help with the trade for Vucevic, but it came at the expense of their long-term health.
If the Bulls hadn’t traded for Vucevic, they could have drafted Wagner, as he was the player the Orlando Magic selected with the 8th pick the Bulls handed them.
Wagner is now averaging just under 20 points per game to go along with 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists on a rookie deal and is only 22 years old. The Bulls would have him under team control for the foreseeable future instead of paying a sunk cost like Vucevic.
Given their lack of young talent, trading away that pick, in retrospect, was a terrible move that cost the Bulls a chance at a young star. It was especially egregious considering the 2021 Draft was largely considered deep with potential star talent, not a draft where you want to trade out of the top 10.