The Bulls Biggest Mistake Was NOT the Vucevic Trade; It Was This….

The Bulls Biggest Mistake Was NOT the Vucevic Trade; It Was This….

We’ve reached that time of the year in the offseason where media outlets, particularly the national media, put out various columns, articles, podcasts to keep their viewers and fans engaged. So naturally, you’re going to hear various trade rumors, team drama, etc. But what I actually do like during this time of year is when we get those bigger picture level takes, bird’s eyee views of things where we revisit things of the past, various transactions franchises have made over the years, and how it impacts their current state and future state. And I know this is slightly old because the article came out a couple days ago and a lot of people have already been reacting to it and sharing their thoughts. I did as well briefly on Twitter, but that’s the article ESPN put out where they go over each of the teams biggest mistakes over the last 5 years. And when it came to the biggest mistake on the part of the Bulls, and I saw a lot of Bulls Nation agreeing with this take. I actually disagree with it completely. The biggest mistake of course being the Bulls trading for Nikoluvich when they gave up those two first round picks and Wendell Carter Jr. here in 2021 and I’ll explain why I disagree with it and what I believe was actually the bull’s biggest mistake over the last 5 years in this video. So, what’s going on everyone? You’re listening to Bull Central here. Hope you’re all doing well. Now, when I was thinking about all the mistakes this front office has made over the years, it’s actually quite sad to think about because there are a lot to the point where it’s almost hard to really pinpoint what the biggest one is. You know, from Patrick Williams, the selection number four overall giving Zack Lavine that max contract. Yes, obviously the Vevich trade that was still a mistake. Even though I don’t believe it’s the biggest one, it was still a mistake. Not trading Alex Caruso earlier when they had the opportunity to and even when they did, not getting any picks for him in return. Not reacting quickly enough and pivoting when it was clear Lonzo Ball was not going to be coming back anytime soon. The Patrick Williams $90 million contract, like there is a lot. But to me, the biggest mistake that I feel a lot of people don’t really talk about that for some reason continues to be swept under the rug is the front office deciding to go allin and building around Zack Leavine rather than trading for him when he actually had peak value in 2021. They could have continued to double down on that rebuild because they were still technically in a rebuild at that time. Now, before some of you go crazy on me in the comments, let me explain and also revisit history a little bit. If you remember when AK and Mark Everle first took over, they made it known that they would take their time with this team. They were going to go through an assessment period to see what they have to work with with this roster. They weren’t going to make any abrupt changes, any knee-jerk reactions based on what they saw from the previous year under Gar Pax, except for firing Jim Boen, which that was indeed needed. But it was supposed to be an evaluation year of a young team that wasn’t good, but had some lottery picks, some promising players. Guys like Larry Markin, Wendell Carter Jr., and Kobe White and newly selected player in Patrick Williams and of course Zack Lavine who they acquired in the Jimmy Butler trade in 2017. Now despite the Bulls going into that season, the 2021 season, uh they were trying to quote unquote compete. Like that wasn’t a year they were actively tanking anymore. By that point, they were trying to make a push for the playoffs, but things didn’t really go as they had expected. The Bulls were kind of underperforming. Markin seemingly stagnant in his overall development as a player. Wendell Carter Jr. uh couldn’t stay healthy and when he did play it was clear he wasn’t going to prosper in anything special. Kobe was still too young and not there yet. The only bright spot really coming out of that season was the fact that Zack Lavine was truly breaking out into an all-star. He was clearly the Bull’s best player and at age 25 this was something the Bulls could work with, right? And while I won’t deny that Zack, especially at that time, was an incredible player, an insane athlete, and a super entertaining player to watch. But even at that time, you guys know for those who have been following the channel since the beginning, that was the first year that I actually did the channel that season, I was always pretty adamant, as much as I like Zack Lavine, I did not believe he was a franchise level player, a player you could build around, nor a player you give a max contract to, especially when we knew that contract was coming up. We knew the contract was expiring in two seasons. We knew he was going to be in for a big payday. and if he starts making all-star teams, he’s going to push for a max contract as he should. And so, in my opinion, it would have made much more sense for the Bulls to trade Zack Lavine going into that 2021 trade deadline, having just become an all-star for two reasons. One, because his value was at its peak. He was on a very team-friendly contract at that time, a contract he had outplayed at $20 million per year. But two, it would have made more sense to trade Zack because it was clear at that time the Bulls still weren’t close to competing. And with Zach now 25, about to be 26, you had to know that by the time guys like Kobe, Patrick, even Markin, by the time they were truly ready as players to start blossoming, Zack was going to be phasing out of that timeline. But more importantly, you had to know Zack Lavine was never going to be that guy, the superstar, the number one option that you can build around on a championship team. Like, I liken it to what the Spurs did with Jonte Murray a few years back. He made his first All-Star selection. He was going to be due for a big contract extension soon. The Spurs were still rebuilding at the time. And even though Murray was still young, he was actually Zach’s age, 25 or 26. They surprised everyone when they traded him to the Atlanta Hawks for three first round picks, getting max value for their best player. But their best player that wasn’t going to be a guy that you can conceivably build around. Some people thought that Spurs were crazy for trading a guy who had just made an all-star and being in his prime, but it worked out for them given the state they find themselves in today and doubling down on that rebuild. And now they’re sitting with two potential franchise changing players in Victor Womanyama and Dylan Harper, but also had the means with those picks to make a play for Dear Fox. Of course, instead of doing that, instead of trading Zack Lavine and getting multiple first round picks, which was reported what the Bulls would have been able to get for Zack at that time, they did whatever they could to put together a winning team around him. That’s why they traded for Nikoluch. That’s why they brought in Demar, Lonzo Ball, and it’s led to everything that has transpired since then and the team that you see before you today. Now, there were, of course, other mistakes that went on from there that obviously didn’t have to do with Zach directly. like it’s not on Zack that the front office didn’t pivot sooner when they realized things weren’t going to work with Zack Dear Vuchic. Uh not making any trades for three straight trade deadlines, extending Vevich, not trading Kuso earlier, etc. But none of this none of those would have even transpired or been a thing had it not been for the Bulls deciding to build this team around Zack aka hit the accelerator button too early. His first season on the job trading future assets to get Nicolvich, trading Daniel Gaffford, letting marketing go. He said, “We’ve got to do what we can to make Zach happy. He’s our guy. We can win with him, and we need to push to start winning now.” None of this is Zach’s fault, by the way. It’s not like he chose this or pushed for this. It’s not his fault for wanting max money and signing for max money when it’s offered to him. He just hooped and did what he could to help this team win. It’s on the Bolts front office to recognize what they have with their current and future assets and manage those assets appropriately. And when you have an opportunity to trade a player whose value is soaring and your team isn’t ready to compete yet and said player isn’t going to get you to championship contention anytime soon, you leverage that asset and turn it into something you can add on to your future asset pool. The Bulls were in no business to be making these kind of all-in win now moves for a player like Zack Lavine. If it was win by Anthony Edwards, that’s a different story. and you do whatever you can to build around those guys and keep them happy, not Zack Lavine. And so, while yes, the Vuvich trade was bad looking at it now, although I still maintain the trade in a vacuum was fair value for a player who was an all-star at that time and was having his best season averaging 25 and 12 on 40% shooting from three. Two first round picks and young player was the going rate for a guy like that. But the Bulls should not have been in the Nikol Vuch sweep stakes that trade deadline in 2021. The Vu trade was bad. It absolutely set the Bulls back. But in my opinion, the vouch trade would have never happened had it not been for the Bulls wanting to go allin on Zack Lavine, believing that by doing so, they would eventually bring this franchise back to relevance and title contention. It was never going to be that. Yes, they had a nice run to start that 2122 season before Lonzo got injured, but we also don’t know that that was going to last. It was a small sample size of games and as good as they were, we know, or at least for us who are realists, we know that team still wasn’t good enough to win a championship. So yes, there were a lot of bad moves that have been made on the part of the Bulls over the last 5 years. A lot of moves that made things worse as the years went on, but the domino that started it all was choosing to build around Zack Lavine. Yes, they would have gotten hell for it had they actually traded Lavine just when he became the Bull’s first all-star since Jimmy Butler. Yes, a lot of people would have said they were nuts thinking, “How could you possibly think any picks that you’re getting in return for Zack are going to turn into better players than Zack Leavine himself?” we would have heard it all. But at worst, the bulls will probably be in the same situation they are right now, but instead stacked with more draft capital and future assets to build upon. So in my view, it wasn’t the Vuvich trade itself that was the bull’s biggest mistake, but rather the reason they made the trade in the first place, and that was to accelerate a win now timeline around Zack Lavine. Just my opinion on the matter. I would love to hear what you guys think though. You let me know in the comments. As always, be sure to subscribe and I will see you in the next one.

Discussing what was the Chicago Bulls biggest mistake over the last 5 years

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