Bulls' stellar play against top teams complicates deadline plans

Chicago needs to figure out what they are quickly because center Nikola Vucevic is a free agent this summer. The Bulls could still re-sign Vooch, for whom they traded Wendell Carter Jr. (averaging 15.4 points and 8.7 rebounds for the Orlando Magic) and two first-round picks, one of which became All-Rookie first-teamer Franz Wagner (20.2 PPG). If the season ended today, the Bulls would have traded three lottery picks for two-and-a-half years of Vucevic, where they finished in 11th, 6th, and 11th place in the Eastern Conference.

It's the defining move of the Artūras Karnišovas era in Chicago, along with the sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan, which paid off with DeRozan's All-Star season last year but cost them a 2025 first-round pick. The team looked great last season, briefly leading the East before Lonzo Ball's knee injury - he's rehabbing, but still not running full speed or cutting.

Still, insiders don't think the Bulls are likely to blow up their roster. For one, Karnišovas already blew up the roster two years ago. The only Bulls who pre-date his tenure are Zach LaVine and Coby White (also a trade candidate). Trading Vucevic now would be admitting that all the picks he traded - plus likely All-Star Lauri Markkanen - were for naught.

The second reason is the Bulls show flashes of a team that can beat anyone. They've beaten the Nets twice, the Celtics twice, and the Bucks twice. They beat the Warriors and the Mavericks. Now they've got the 7th-easiest schedule for the rest of the season. Of course, maybe that's a disadvantage, considering how the Bulls have tanked against the league's worst teams.

It would be an easier decision for the Bulls' front office if the team was a little better, or a little worse. They've got six games before the trade deadline, and their opponents have a combined winning percentage of just .433. If this team wants to stay together, it might depend on them finally figuring out how to beat bad teams.