SAN ANTONIO – Nikola Vucevic knows all about what it’s like to be a general manager.
The Bulls big man regularly scouts young talent, evaluates rosters, makes bold moves, and sends players packing.
Feelings be damned.
After all, you’re not playing “Football Manager 2024” correctly if you’re not shaking up the organization.
The soccer simulation video game is one thing, however. The Bulls and the decisions their front office must make with just 11 games left until the NBA trade deadline comes and goes?
No thanks. That’s a hard pass for Vucevic. He’ll stick to playing GM on the laptop.
“Honestly, I really don’t focus on that,” Vucevic said, when asked about the roster decisions that will be weighed by the Bulls. “It’s out of my control. Not what I get paid to do. It’s on the front office, whatever they decide to do. I’m happy with the guys we have here, and I think we can play even better than we have. We have a lot more to show than we have so far. Whatever the front office wants to do that’s on them.”
That it is.
What Vucevic was correct about is the players have made a selling point. A stale, somewhat monotonous one that’s been played out before with this group, but still a selling point.
After starting off 5-14, the Bulls have gone 14-8 going into the halfway point of the season.
Through those first 19 games, the defensive efficiency (116) sat 22nd in the league. Over the last 22 games? A big jump up to seventh (113.7).
Then there’s the offense, which had a rating of 26th out of the gate but was up to 18th in the last 22 games.
There’s no question that the on-the-court product has been better, but even so, the Bulls are still looking at best finishing at or just under .500, likely sitting in play-in tournament purgatory.
“Trying not to veer out of my lane too much, but when we play the right way, we’re a good team and I think we’ve proven that a little bit last year and this year, even though you can’t put much weight in seasons you’re not in (the playoffs),” guard Alex Caruso said when asked about the direction the front office might take. “But we’ve beaten good teams, we’ve shown we can play with the good teams, and that’s the way you win late in the season. For us it’s just about the consistency of it.
“Move no move, we’ve got to show up and do our job, keep trying to win games and be a team that can beat good teams late in the season.”
All well and good, but what executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas must ask himself is what’s really the end goal here?
If it’s staying stuck in mediocrity, by all means keep running out the same roster. If it’s about trying to build a new look while possibly recapturing some lost draft assets, however, then some nameplates above the current lockers have to be switched up.
That starts with continuing to gauge the market on Zach LaVine and hope it changes. Yes, the Bulls are 4-1 since LaVine returned from a right foot injury, but the four-plus weeks he was gone was when they started playing their best basketball.
Still, Karnisovas can’t dance without a partner, and as of Sunday the music continued blaring but the dance floor remained empty.
And while players like Caruso wouldn’t mind this roster staying together, it won’t mean much if the consistency doesn’t continue showing up.
“Once you get to the playoffs it’s a seven-game series,” Caruso said. “They know what you’re going to run, you know what they’re going to run. It’s just about going out there and putting your best foot forward and competing. When we do that I think we’re a really good team.”