I can't believe they traded Vuc!

I still can't see the plan, but I at least know play-in is NOT the plan

The Bulls, whose superlatively-inert front office of Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley once had a period of three years without a player trade, have now had three trades in a couple of days.

The Bulls followed up their minor transaction Saturday night with two more on Tuesday afternoon. And unlike that first deal these next ones actually removed players from Billy Donovan’s playing rotation.

Altogether, since the Sunday deal fed into the later ones¹:

Outgoing: Nikola Vucevic (!!!!!!!), Kevin Huerter, Jevon Carter, Emmanuel Miller

Incoming: Jaden Ivey, Anfernee Simons, Mike Conley, 2026 2nd Round Pick (Pelicans slot, currently #32 overall), 2029 2nd Round Pick (least favorable between Pistons/Knicks/Bucks slot)

The Huerter trade came first, and while that was technically what I was asking the Bulls to do, it was the least significant version: Huerter is the least significant member of the rotation, and Jaden Ivey - as he’s about to hit free agency - is the least significant kind of asset.

Then they traded Vuc. I still cannot believe I get to write those words.

Based on actions and words of the past 5 years, I thought Vuc was here to stay indefinitely. AK finally sucked it up and recognized ‘our constant’ was overpaid and not going to fetch great return on the trade market. That the Bulls even got a pretty good second round pick (while having to give up a worse one) is more due to them significantly helping the Celtics out of their payroll crunch than whatever Vuc can provide Boston in the playoffs².

What the Vucevic trade signified more was that, for the first time, it is not a goal this season to try to wring out the most wins possible. There thankfully will be no ‘we owe it to this group’ talk, or a fraudulent late season run, or the unlikely-but-still-possible confluence of good health and a dogshit conference allowing them to actually make the playoffs.

Though one could argue: Vuc is not that good, and they could get some playable bigs in the next couple of days, Billy will Thibs it up³, and the East is still dogshit…they could still make some bogus push. But at least we know that in pursuit of that, they aren’t eschewing every opportunity to gain assets.

They didn’t accumulate much, yet. A first look at a reclamation project in Ivey, and a second round pick. Earlier on Monday, the Utah Jazz were able to acquire Jaren Jackson Jr. because they had a surplus of first rounders. But having even what little they’ve acquired so far is literally better than the absolute nothing that expiring veteran contracts would have provided them.

Especially now that they’ve signaled they don’t care as much about this season, the Bulls should continue to be in asset accumulation mode. But that mode, nor the acquisition of more guards this week (Conley already reportedly is temporary, and there’s no reason to assume Simons can’t be quickly traded), does not mean they need to trade Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu⁴. Those are players who can still be an asset if re-signed to the right contracts.

The thing is, a normal base-level-competent front office should already know what that contract range is, and have a solid assessment of whether they can retain either player in that range. If they think they can’t, then absolutely trade them before the deadline to the highest bidder. If dreaming this was a different front office, that they acquired possible replacements means they already have a trade lined up. I’m worried they are doing it in the reverse way.

But given who is running the show here, it is entirely possible they don’t have any idea. And based on their history, they’ll admit as much⁵!

That all remains concerning. As is the critical issue of not having a star nor a future star nor the wherewithal (compared to other bottom-dwellers) to get one. There is still no good plan to be seen, if the idea is to have cap space for a paltry (and mostly restricted) free agent class, that’s a doomed plan. If this is all maneuvering to have mostly the same team going forward, but with a worse version of Coby White on a lower contract than what White will get, that’s kind of bullshit. Even if I’m still basking in the glow of a Vucevic departure.

But what gives me at least slight alleviation of that concern is that they don’t appear to care how this deadline effects the stretch run of this season. In prior years, that was all they cared about.

1. this is an example of why their heretofore organizational dismissal of second round picks was a sign of incompetence. The second rounder they acquired on Sunday was immediately utilized!

2. Naturally, Bulls PR and media rushed to laud Vuc for being a professional who ‘deserves’ to play in meaningful games. I do believe Vuc was good with the media. But from this fan’s perspective he was beyond a disappointment as a player, he was concurrently a thin-skinned entitled bitch. Never hesitating to lament his sub-average teams possessing a bad defense, or ask why not give Vuc the ball more? That he was covered like a star says it all when it comes to the AKME era.

3. Why they played Ayo heavy minutes and Coby + Smith at all with calf ailments in Tuesday night’s game I have no idea

4. or Tre Jones and Jalen Smith

5. Never have I ever heard an executive say ‘I don’t know’ and ‘we’ll see’ as much as AK