I don't understand fans who are obsessed with "winning trades." Isn't the big picture much more important?
THEN:
Bulls trade grade: A
It cannot be overstated how much offensive firepower Vucevic brings to the Bulls. He's one of only four players this season averaging 24 points and 10 boards a game -- the other three are all MVP contenders (Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid). The pick-and-pop game between him and Zach LaVine is going to be a dream come true for the Bulls, and are probably hoping to stagger some of their minutes together so that when LaVine goes to the bench its offense doesn't become stagnant as its been prone to do.
Magic trade grade: B-
I'm actually surprised the Magic couldn't get a better deal out of the Bulls or any other team in the league for a two-time All-Star who is putting up career numbers.
NOW
Looking back at the trade that doomed the Chicago Bulls
Looking back at the trade that ended up dooming the Chicago Bulls and their efforts to win now.
It’s not hard to find NBA trades that became disasters for one franchise but incredible opportunities for another. However, the Chicago Bulls-Orlando Magic deal from two trade deadlines ago appears more lopsided with each passing day.
In March of 2021, the Chicago Bulls acquired center Nikola Vucevic from the Orlando Magic in exchange for Otto Porter Jr., Wendell Carter Jr., and two lightly protected first-round picks. The trade came out of nowhere. The Magic and Bulls were both at the bottom of the Eastern Conference in 2021 and appeared to each be in rebuild mode.
But the Bulls had a plan. That summer, Chicago’s front office made aggressive moves to make the team a contender: they traded for a star in DeMar DeRozan and acquired some of the game’s best role players in Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball.
Almost overnight, the team transmuted into a win-now mentality. The front office had grown impatient with losing and wanted to expedite their rebuild. Indeed, the Bulls are one of the most prolific franchises in professional sports but haven’t reached an NBA Finals since they had Micheal Jordan.
Chicago’s plan has, unsurprisingly, backfired. The team made progress in the standings last season but was blown out by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs. The Bulls have all but collapsed this year, falling at the moment to the ninth seed in the East with their best players being in constant trade rumors.
Chicago’s failure should be a message to front offices trying to cut corners in their rebuild: be patient. The Bulls’ trade for Vucevic stemmed from anxiety that they hadn’t had a championship team in decades and needed to rejuvenate the franchise. It led very quickly to turmoil.
The Magic, by contrast, was willing to take things slow with their rebuild, as small-market teams are apt to do. They have in turn developed one of the best young cores in the NBA, and much of it is thanks to Chicago’s misplaced aggressive team-building.