Grading the Offseason Moves: Bulls Resign Vucevic

Nikola Vucevic is expected to resign with the Chicago Bulls on a 3 year/$65 Million contract, with a first year salary between $18-$19 Million

So this move was immediately met with mixed reviews from the Chicago Bulls seemingly bi-polar fanbase. Half the fanbase seems to want to tear the roster down and launch into a full rebuild, while the other half believes this team is a couple lucky bounces away from being a true contender. I personally fall somewhere in the middle. I believe a re-tooling effort is needed and the fit of the current roster is a little clunky. Looking at the rest of the roster, it wouldn't be non-sensical to say the Bulls would benefit from having a Center that's more of a Rim-Running/Shot Blocking variety, a Jarrett Allan type that's more complimentary on offense and helps cover up some defensive breakdowns that have plagued the Bulls in recent years.

Resigning Vuc however, was a no brainer. The forever cash-strapped Chicago Bulls, partly due to injuries and partly due to ownerships reluctance to spend, had to bring back Vucevic and not risk him venturing to another team, leaving them empty handed. I don't buy into the narrative that they resigned him primarily due to the price they paid to trade for him. The Bulls management isn't that sentimental and there's nothing to be gained by looking back with regrets. The fact is that Vucevic is a reliable, versatile, and arguably top 10 Center in the league. He finished last season playing all 82 games, scored an efficient 18 points per game as a 3rd option, and finished with the 2nd most rebounds in the League last season. Based on statistics and on-court performance, Vuc is arguably the best "3rd option" in the NBA.

At 33 years old, you could argue the Bulls giving him 3 fully guaranteed years may be a mistake, but his game isn't predicated on athleticism and he currently shows no signs of any kind of decline. In fact, his stats last season were identical to the year before, only on 2 fewer shots per game. If anything, Vuc is still honing his skills and efficiency. If you look around at all the deals given out this offseason, Vucevic playing next season for $18.5 million or whatever the exact number ends up being, may be one of the best value deals in the League. Look around the NBA and you won't find many, if any, players better than Vuc earning less than $20 million per year, except for a few players still on Rookie scale deals.

All that being said, the fit of Vuc with Derozan and Lavine, is still a little suspect. I'm sure, or at least hope, the Bulls management did their due diligence and looked at possible sign-and-trade possibilities. Something does need to change with this Roster, whether that's moving one of their "Big 3" or continuing to search for the right combination of role players around them, remains to be seen. A Vucevic trade in the future remains a real possibility, and I suspect the entirety of the Bulls Roster continues to be speculated about in rumors as they approach the trade deadline next season.

Overall Grade: A-

The Bulls simply couldn't afford to let Vuc walk away and leave them empty handed, and they got him back at a team friendly salary. The Bulls did not have the salary cap room to replace Vucevic with a starting Center anywhere near his talent level.