In 2021, the Chicago Bulls decided that it was time to end their rebuild. With Zach LaVine at the helm, they made a big-time swing to push for the postseason. They traded for Nikola Vucevic in a deal highlighted by Wendell Carter Jr. and two first-round picks.
Fast forward two years and the deal hasn’t worked out in Chicago’s favor. They have one playoff appearance to show for it, and this past season, they were eliminated in the Play-In Tournament. Even with DeMar DeRozan in town to form a Big 3, it’s still not enough to get the Bulls over the playoff hump. And according to Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report, the Vucevic deal is still “haunting” Chicago.
Not only have the Bulls failed to find significant postseason success, but their developmental system has also looked rough. Lauri Markkanen emerged as an All-Star just two years after leaving Chicago, Patrick Williams has failed to live up to the hype of the fourth-overall pick, and Coby White is only just starting to show signs of prowess due to inconsistent roles with the Bulls over the years.
Meanwhile, the Magic made out like bandits in the trade. As noted by Hughes, Carter Jr. is completely outperforming Vucevic.
“Start with the certainty that no reasonable team today would give up Wendell Carter Jr. for Vucević in a straight-up swap,” Hughes wrote. “WCJ is nine years younger than Vooch, outperformed him in Estimated Plus/Minus in each of the last two full seasons and is now locked into a declining four-year deal that’ll pay him just $10.8 million in 2025-26.”
That’s without even mentioning the picks Chicago gave up, which Hughes made sure to detail.
“Now add the fact that one of the first-round picks Chicago sent to the Orlando Magic for Vucević became Franz Wagner who, in his age-21 season, averaged 18.6 pointes, 4.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists—a solid sophomore follow-up to an All-Rookie 2021-22 effort,” wrote Hughes.
As of now, the Bulls have effectively traded Carter Jr., Wagner, and a top-ten pick in this year’s draft (unless they get lucky and it jumps into the top four) for a first-round exit and an uncertain future.
If they end up resetting the roster this summer or keep the team together and fail to make the playoffs next year, the Vucevic trade will go down as one of the worst in recent memory. And it might already be just that.
