The Chicago Bulls and president Arturas Karnisovas have made some moves that signal the organization shifting to a long-term vision in the next season, but it seems they are still trying to move Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. It does not seem like there is much of a market when it comes to a trade for either LaVine or Vucevic, however.
“The Growing concerns, however, are that possible destinations for LaVine seemingly have dried up and that there is still no market for Vucevic at age 22 and $41 million-plus guaranteed over the next two seasons,” Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times wrote.
The Bulls believed they were bringing in a creative leader with Karnisovas, and he displayed that with the trade of Alex Caruso, bringing in a younger player with more offensive upside in Josh Giddey in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The DeMar DeRozan saga with the Bulls came to an end after a sign-and-trade with the Sacramento Kings.
There have been rumors about a trade of LaVine for multiple years, but none have come to fruition. In the prior year or two, Bulls fans had been frustrated with the organization delaying a tear down and rebuild, and LaVine was one of the main pieces. There have been rumors regarding him going to the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors in recent months, but nothing has actually taken place. There is still time to get a move done, but as teams moved on and made other moves to execute their offseason plans, trade destinations came off the board due to the lack of flexibility some teams have as a result.
LaVine could bring value in a certain situation, but with teams crossed off the board when it comes to trade destinations, the return that the Bulls get for him in a hypothetical trade might not come close to what fans were dreaming of in the last year or so. As noted by Cowley as well, the Bulls do not seem to be likely to get much back in a trade involving Nikola Vucevic, if one is able to be executed between now and the start of the season.
Bulls still need to fully embrace rebuild
As noted before, the Bulls made moves with DeRozan and Caruso to offload salary and get a younger player that they like in Josh Giddey. The Caruso move was criticized, but Giddey's age fits the Bulls' timeline much better. Now, it is up to Karnisovas to get moves done for LaVine and Vucevic, whether that be by the start of the season or at the very least by the NBA Trade Deadline next season.
Holding onto LaVine and Vucevic could hurt Chicago's long-term vision as well, as it could inflate the win total next season. That would lower the Bulls' odds in the draft lottery and potentially have them picking lower in the first round than they would like so they can land high-upside talent.
It will be interesting to see if Karnisovas can come up with a move to offload the two veterans. Until then, this offseason feels incomplete for the Bulls.
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