Analyst Goes Scorched Earth on Bulls Star Nikola Vucevic

There are two distinct types of people on Chicago Bulls Twitter these days: those who stan for big man Nikola Vucevic and those who curse the trade that brought him whenever they happen to catch Wendell Carter Jr and/or Franz Wagner balling out with the Orlando Magic. And, really, there’s logic to be found in both mindsets.

Make no mistake, the Bulls probably don’t end their postseason drought in 2021-22 without Vucevic manning the middle and providing go-to-level scoring behind DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine. When he’s on — and everyone else is healthy — Chicago’s offense is a whole lot to handle.

On the flip side, Vucevic can’t really spread his wings while playing third fiddle to Chicago’s All-Star duo and his long-range ability isn’t good enough to help much with the club’s spacing. Also: while he plays the part of a traditional big man defensively, his rim protection is nowhere near where you’d like it to be for that kind of player.

Turns out, fans aren’t the only one who are torn on Vucevic.

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Analyst Throws Major Shade at Vucevic

Earlier this month, Adrian Wojnarowski indicated that Vucevic will garner significant interest when/if he hits the open market this summer. So, clearly he has his fair share of believers among front office types. Said the NBA insider: “Certainly… if he’s out in free agency, he’ll certainly be a prominent player.”

However, on the December 13 episode of The Athletic NBA Show, Zach Harper scoffed at the notion that anyone would shell out the big bucks for Vucevic. Not only that — he called the big man’s All-Star credentials into question.

“I’ll never believe in Vuc. I don’t care that he’s a two-time All-Star. That’s the worst two-time All-Star possible,” Harper said. “I do not understand why he got those votes from the coaches. I think it was a prank. I don’t think he’s good. The idea that he’s gonna get a big contract coming up is crazy to me.”

For the record, Vucevic led the playoff-qualifying Bulls in B-Ball Index’s LEBRON metric last season. And this season — even as his on/off numbers are less than awesome — he’s one of just five players league-wide averaging at least 16 points, 10 rebounds and two assists per game.

The other four: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis and Domantas Sabonis.

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D-Rose Still Gets Soft, Fuzzy Feelings in Chicago

The New York Knicks were at the United Center on Wednesday night for the first of three games against the Bulls (all of which will occur over a 10-day span). As a result, the Windy City faithful were reunited with one of their all-time favorites in former NBA MVP Derrick Rose.

Before the game, the 34-year-old made it clear that said reunion means as much to him as it does to his old cheering section. Here’s what Rose said, via NBC Sports Chicago‘s KC Johnson:

“It’s a total blessing. Coming back, just seeing it, makes you kind of reminisce about the older days when I was playing here. In hindsight, you always wish you had cherished things a little bit more. That’s the feeling. But it’s great.”

Through 21 appearances with the Knicks this season, Rose is averaging 6.4 points, 2.0 assists and 1.8 rebounds while shooting 40.0% from the floor and 34.7% from deep.

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