This year’s NBA trade deadline was (another) severely disappointing one for Chicago Bulls fans.<\/p>\n
Nikola Vucevic, who many around the league expected to be traded by 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 6, suited up last night for the Bulls at the United Center. Any rumored big-name deals for young guards like Coby White\u2014who would have fetched a large return\u2014or Ayo Dosunmu fell flat.<\/p>\n
The Bulls re-signed veteran guard Lonzo Ball in a rare piece of shrewd business. Ball has been one of Chicago’s best players this season and a crucially steadying one for a young roster.<\/p>\n
The Bulls’ biggest deadline trade saw them finally ship out Zach LaVine, sending him West to the Sacramento Kings to reunite with former teammate DeMar DeRozan. In return, Chicago received a trio of role players in Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter and Zach Collins to essentially match salaries.<\/p>\n
The most significant asset Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas acquired was his own former first-round pick that he sent to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for DeRozan in 2021.<\/p>\n
Some reports suggested Karnisovas would try and reroute at least Huerter and Jones before the deadline passed, but unsurprisingly, they remain in Chicago, along with Collins.<\/p>\n
All three made their Bulls debuts last night in an (unsurprisingly again) disappointing loss to the Golden State Warriors, who were running out their own deadline acquisition for the first time, former Windy City star Jimmy Butler.<\/p>\n
Here’s how Chicago’s newest trio fared in its first action under Head Coach Billy Donovan.<\/p>\n
Stat line: 19 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1-for-7 from the field, 1-for-4 from three, 1-for-2 free throws<\/p>\n
That stat line about sums it up for Huerter. The 26-year-old sharpshooter got more playing time than any of the other three debutants but didn’t do much of anything with it. He’s having by far the least efficient season of his career, and, at least through one game, the Bulls’ up-tempo style that encourages players to fire 3-pointers didn’t do much to improve anything for him.<\/p>\n
Grade: D+<\/strong><\/p>\n 18 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 0-for-3 from the field<\/p>\n Jones is one of the better backup pure floor generals in the NBA, but with pass-first guards like Josh Giddey and Lonzo Ball already entrenched in Donovan’s rotation, the 25-year-old may not get to show it.<\/p>\n He got an opportunity last night with Ball on the shelf but didn’t do much to prove he’s long for Chicago, given his likely limited role and expiring contract.<\/p>\n Grade: D<\/strong><\/p>\n Stat line: 0 minutes<\/p>\n Collins didn’t sniff the floor, even in a blowout loss. Vucevic still played 29 minutes, Matas Buzelis has finally earned a starting role, Patrick Williams played 20 minutes off the bench and Jalen Smith had a productive night with 15 points and four made threes.<\/p>\n Should Vucevic continue to have a starter-level role and Smith maintain his position as Donovan’s preferred backup center, it may be hard for Collins to get on the floor.<\/p>\n Grade: N\/A<\/strong><\/p>\n Chicago’s trade deadline acquisitions all made their Bulls debuts in Saturday’s home loss to the Golden State Warriors. Here’s how they fared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nTre Jones<\/h3>\n
Zach Collins<\/h3>\n