Upon analyzing the Chicago Bulls’ roster, you’ll notice one attribute stands out more than others. Only one player is above the age of 30—that would be 34-year-old Nikola Vucevic. The Bulls fielded the eighth-youngest roster a season ago, and it’s only become more youthful in recent weeks after drafting an 18-year-old rookie and swapping 27-year-old Lonzo Ball for 24-year-old Isaac Okoro.
Thus, it’s not unreasonable to expect the Bulls to trade Vucevic for a player who more closely aligns with their core. Last season, that very scenario nearly occurred. The team that happened to field the second-oldest roster in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors, had their sights set on acquiring Vucevic leading up to the February 6 trade deadline.
Nonetheless, a trade never materialized as the Warriors instead acquired Jimmy Butler, and the Bulls were unrelenting in their preference to receive a first-round pick in exchange for Vucevic.
Despite a trade not coming to fruition before the deadline, rumors about Vucevic making his way to the Bay Area persisted into the offseason. The veteran-laden Warriors were, and are still, in need of reinforcements to their frontcourt. As mentioned at the top of the article, the Bulls are young, and Vucevic doesn’t fit the semi-rebuilding timeline. A trade between the two franchises always appeared beneficial for both sides.
The Warriors have their sights set on another free agent big man
That is, until now. NBA Insider Jake Fischer, via The Stein Line, reported that Golden State is no longer interested in acquiring the stretch five. Fischer wrote, “The Warriors, though, appear to have moved away from past trade interest they previously registered in veteran Bulls center Nikola Vucevic, which might have helped spark something this summer.”
Despite losing longtime veteran big man Kevon Looney to the New Orleans Pelicans in free agency, the Warriors have seemingly lost interest in acquiring Vucevic and have instead set their sights on the free agent market. Fischer wrote, “League sources say Golden State remains a leading contender to sign Al Horford away from Boston.”
Unlike Vucevic, Horford is an unrestricted free agent. Therefore, the Warriors can add the 39-year-old big man without having to give up any assets in doing so. The same cannot be said of Vucevic. The Montenegrin big man is arguably more impactful at this stage of his career than Horford, yet the former Celtic ultimately fits the Warriors’ playstyle better than does Vucevic.
Horford is a low-usage, spot-up three-point marksman on offense and a versatile, multi-positional defender on the defensive end of the floor. On the other hand, Vucevic registered a higher usage rate than Butler a season ago, and isn’t the most reliable shooter. Moreover, he’s one of the league’s worst defenders, ranking second-to-last among centers to play at least 1,000 minutes in CraftedNBA’s catch-all defensive metric.
With the Warriors no longer a viable option, especially if they sign Horford, the Bulls will likely be unable to find a new partner. Not many teams have expressed interest in Vucevic over the last year. Nevertheless, there is a possibility that a center-needy squad, such as Horford’s Celtics, expresses some level of interest in Vucevic this offseason.
