As Nikola Vucevic was talking about the current state of the team during Monday’s practice at the Advocate Center, it was apropos that the ghost of Bulls present was getting jump shots up nearby.
There was injured point guard Lonzo Ball, first only shooting from a stationary position, before slowly starting to test the left knee and actually get some air between his shoes and the wooden floor.
A reminder of what the Bulls could have been, and the mess they currently are.
“I like it here,” Vucevic responded when asked about his own future with the organization with the trade deadline four days away. “I want to be here.”
The same stock answer all of the Bulls veterans have been giving lately when discussing their own individual futures.
And that’s the real issue with this roster these days. No one is selfish enough to state the obvious: That with the Ball injury unknowns and now with Zach LaVine’s (right foot surgery) pending surgery this is a sinking ship that they should all be scurrying to get off of.
Forget heading for an iceberg, they’ve already hit.
Now it’s up to the front office to do the right thing by this group and start moving bodies.
Vucevic made some good points in explaining why he doesn’t mind staying pat with this current group, but Vucevic is also the type of player that seldom makes ripples.
“Those are all things that are out of my control,” Vucevic said. “I do feel we have enough. We have a lot of stuff we could do better as a team. Some stuff was unfortunate like the injuries we have had to deal with. Especially Lonzo, we only played with him for like four months, but that’s part of it. You can’t control that. You can overthink it all you want, ‘If he was there …’ But you don’t know that, you never know that. So many teams have been assembled on paper and it didn’t work out.”
File the current Bulls roster under that.
Not only are LaVine and Ball question marks, but veterans DeMar DeRozan and Andre Drummond are each on expiring contracts.
With LaVine now being untradeable, executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas may have to pivot to a decision he has tried to avoid – moving a player or players that he didn’t plan on moving.
Coach Billy Donovan admitted that he still hasn’t been called into a staff meeting by his front office or asked his feelings about certain players that might be targeted, but that doesn’t mean talks aren’t happening.
It’s very unlikely Vucevic would actually be going anywhere, especially with his current contract situation – three years, $60 million – but he also sounded like a player that was just fine with his front office staying the course.
“When I was younger, yeah, you think about (trades at the deadline),” Vucevic said “As you get older you understand that nothing is a given. Wherever you go there are so many things that have to happen to be a good team first, and then to go for a ring. It’s not that simple.
“I think we have guys that can step up. We have a lot of young guys that can get minutes and compete, and it can turn into a positive thing with you getting a new guy coming in and playing well. We gotta figure it out with the guys we have. Going outside for answers is not always the right way to do it, and I believe we have enough to figure out how to do it.”