Bulls Notes: Vucevic, Buzelis, Trade Talk, Season Outlook

After starting the season on a five-game win streak, the Bulls have cooled off significantly and enter Wednesday’s contest against the Cavaliers having lost eight of their last nine games. Notably, the one win in that span, a 129-126 victory over the Hornets, was punctuated by starting center Nikola Vucevic being benched for the final 19 minutes of play in favor of Zach Collins and Jalen Smith.

According to Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune, that decision only underscored one of the prevailing questions of the season: what the 35-year-old Vucevic is doing with this young Bulls team that favors a fast and frenetic style, as opposed to his slower, more deliberate pace.

“Those questions do creep into your mind and you think about it and you get caught into it, especially when things are not going well,” Vucevic said. “I think it’s natural, it’s human nature, but you just have to find a way to limit it as much as possible.”

The Bulls still need Vucevic, Poe writes, but that win over Charlotte could help them picture a world in which the team’s longtime center isn’t starting anymore. However, according to coach Billy Donovan, there are no changes on the immediate horizon.

“I wouldn’t want to take one game and sit there and say, ‘OK, after one game, we’re going to change everything,’” Donovan said. “I don’t think that would be fair.”

As Poe notes in a separate article, Donovan returned to his usual big man rotation down the stretch of Chicago’s next game, a 114-104 loss to the Pelicans, keeping Vucevic on the floor while Collins and Smith were limited to 12 and 13 minutes, respectively.

We have more on the Bulls:

• Matas Buzelis has been tasked primarily with guarding bigger forwards for the first part of the season, but Donovan’s willingness to utilize two-big lineups could result in the second-year forward defending more on the perimeter in games to come, writes Kyle Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times. “I think Matas has the foot speed and length to be able to do that,” Donovan said. “Certain guys will be a little bit more dynamic and [a] little bit more challenging, but I feel pretty confident with his foot speed and his length that he can guard multiple positions.” Williams notes that, according to Donovan, any defensive change along those lines wouldn’t impact how Buzelis is used offensively.
• Despite public assurances from VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas that the Bulls plan to keep Coby White, there are questions within the organization around whether the team will be willing to pay the guard when he hits unrestricted free agency next summer, Poe writes in a trade-season-centered article. If Chicago isn’t planning on signing White to a deal similar to the one Josh Giddey got last summer, the best move would be to shop him now, Poe opines. The Bulls under Karnisovas have been tentative when it comes to in-season deals, Poe adds, but failing to improve the roster either in the short or long term would be a major misstep by the front office.
• After deciding to run it back this fall after a strong 20-game finish to last season, the Bulls should view their more recent 5-15 stretch as evidence to tank, suggests Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. According to Cowley, given that the Bulls don’t have a “real” All-Star and aren’t considered a desirable free agent landing spot, a full tank is needed ahead of the loaded 2026 draft. Otherwise, Cowley says, the team will once again end up in a worst-of-all-worlds middle zone.