The Chicago Bulls were one of the biggest winners of the trade deadline a couple of weeks ago, as all of a sudden, they managed to land another All-Star for the Windy City; luring Nikola Vucevic away from the Orlando Magic.
And, even though it took them a couple of games, it now seems like Billy Donovan’s team is perfectly suited to make a playoff push. The team doesn’t play off of Zach LaVine for 48 minutes straight anymore, and it’s allowed Lauri Markkanen to have a better role off the bench.
The Bulls also added Daniel Theis as a much-needed defensive backup and Troy Brown Jr to provide some depth at the wings and three-point shooting, so for the first time in years, it seems like they’ve put together quite the balanced squad.
That’s why Vucevic is so excited about his new spell at Chicago, as he recently told Basketball News that he feels like the team has a chance to compete for many years to come:
“That’s one thing I’m very excited about: the team has great potential. It has very good structure, and we’re built to be successful for years to come, which is very important in this league,” Vucevic started.
Vucevic went on to talk about Zach LaVine’s breakout and how the two of them can wreak havoc for opposing defenses, claiming that he believes that they could be one of the deadliest duos in the Association:
“Knowing Zach, he’s one of the best players at his position in this league and he had a great year this year; he was an All-Star, and I think he will be one for many years to come. It’s always great to play alongside a guy like that and it’s going to make my life easier, and hopefully I can make his life easier as well on the court. But I believe in Zach and I, and once we really grow our chemistry and build that two-man game, I think we can be very, very good and help our team in many ways and make it difficult for other teams to defend us,” the big man added.
Nikola also talked about the roster that Arturas Karnisovas put together in little-to-no time. He knows that he’s got to lead by example as one of the few veterans on the team, but he’s looking forward to the challenge:
“There are some very good pieces and I’m excited. It’s a new start, and hopefully with my experience and my knowledge, I can help them get to a higher level, which is my goal. But so far, the whole experience has been very positive. I think I’ve been fitting in pretty quickly, and I think it’s been getting better each day and each game. We’re only going to continue to grow and get better, and I think we’re going to have success hopefully this season but also for years to come,” Vucevic concluded.
The Bulls are currently out of the playoff picture but could end up making the play-in tournament. They’re trending in the right direction right away, and they’ve proved that they can compete against the best teams in the league now that they have their second All-Star.
