The Chicago Bulls approached the NBA trade deadline as a team expected to sell off a lot of their veteran talent in order to emphasize the roster's youth and better position themselves for the 2025 NBA Draft lottery.
They did a trade to do so, sending Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings in a three-team deal, taking on three players who all expire within two seasons, and the right back to their 2025 first-rounder.
On top of LaVine being moved, trade rumors around Nikola Vucevic continued for months leading up to Thursday's trade deadline. When trade talks simmered down and it was known Vucevic would stay on the team for the rest of the season, a new report indicates why.
According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, the offers proposed to the Bulls for Vucevic were "underwhelming and the Bulls [front office] doesn't think they can drop more than a few spots in the standings with or without [him]."
The reasoning makes sense, as the Bulls can pivot trade talks to this upcoming summer and allow for Vucevic to increase his trade value with more opportunities with LaVine gone. Additionally, the Bulls aren't the only team looking to drop in the standings and shouldn't take a lower price in the hopes they can fall further.
As for now, the Bulls will head into the remainder of the season with three new players and hope to see progression from players like Matas Buzelis in their new role.
