Nikola Vucevic resurgence has Bulls fans dreaming of trade possibilities
11/05/2024 12:00 PM
The Chicago Bulls suffered a surprising loss at home on Monday night to the previously winless Utah Jazz, but there were some positive takeaways from the game. One of them was the play of Nikola Vucevic. Vucevic is playing at an elite level so far this season, and he had another big game on Monday as he finished with 23 points on 9-17 shooting. He has been superb to start the season, and it has Bulls fans thinking about trade possibilities.
Right now, the Bulls are in a position where they might look to trade Nikola Vucevic if his stock continues to rise. This team is in the middle of a rebuild, and Vucevic is an outlier on this team in terms of age. Chicago is building their foundation with young talent, and with Vucevic playing at an elite level, there might be some contenders down the road that would pay a pretty penny to land him via a trade. It’s definitely something to keep an eye on.
Vucevic had a double-double on Monday night as he had 10 rebounds to go with his 23 points. He also had six assists, and he shot the ball well from deep as he was 2-5 from three. Vucevic has been doing it all this year as he is averaging 21.7 PPG, 10.9 RPG and 3.7 APG. He is shooting 54.8% from the field and 48.5% from deep. He has also been nearly automatic from the charity stripe as he has made nearly 96% of his free throws. Vucevic has been impressive so far this season.
“I know it's early in the year, but he's really playing well on both ends of the floor,” Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said after the loss to the Jazz, according to an article from NBA.com. “He's been great. He's been great with the young guys, he's shot the ball well inside and behind the line. The thing with him the way we are playing he is getting a lot of closeouts. He's generating offense for us by putting the ball on the floor and attacking closeouts; that's been very very good for us. But too many times he gets missed and it's not so much he needs to shoot it, but he's got closeouts and that generally generates good stuff for us and we have to find ways to get it to him a little bit more. He's smart, he knows the shots he needs to be taking and the ones he has to get off and move to the next one, how to get in the lane and find someone else. I think he's played very, very well on both ends.”
Nikola Vucevic is happy with how he has played
Billy Donovan has liked what he has seen from his big man, and Nikola Vucevic has been happy with how he is playing as well.
“I've been happy the way I've been involved and able to get shots for myself and create for others,” Vucevic said. “I'm shooting the ball better, so guys are going to come out more on me. So on drives, read the defense and make the right read; making shots early helps. A ton of work over the summer, not overthinking it, not forcing it, just letting it come to me and taking the good ones and trying to get a good mx of inside and out and try to put last year behind. It wasn't a great shooting year for me, so continue with the work I've put in over the summer and I put in every day and the adjustments I've made. Taking my time, not rushing as much. So far it's going well and that helps, and I hope it continues.”
It’s going to be interesting to see if Vucevic keeps this up, and if he does, will the Bulls try to make a trade?
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