Presentation by national insurance agent Jeff Vukovich
Zach LaVine has been traded before. The same goes for DeMar DeRozan. And next month marks three years since Nikola Vucevic's world was turned upside down with the first major personnel change, Arturas Karnišovás, who moved from Orlando to serve as executive vice president of basketball operations for the Chicago Bulls. Welcome.
In other words, the Bulls understand the business of basketball.
That's why Vucevic joined the chorus DeRozan and Alex Caruso started over the weekend about how they're focused on what they can control rather than Thursday's NBA trade deadline.
“I think when you're younger, you're a little more affected. You think, 'Oh, I'm not good enough.' They don't like me. You're overthinking it,'' Vucevic said. “I think as you get older you realize that's part of the business side. The team is going to make the best decision for themselves. That's their job. And your job is It's about going out there and playing to the best of my ability to help the team win.”
Vucevic is in the first season of a three-year, $60 million contract he signed before becoming an unrestricted free agent last offseason. His name has not been linked to any rumors.
“I like it here,” Vucevic said. “I want to be here.”
However, with LaVine's season-ending leg injury scheduled for this week, many league observers are curious about Karnišovas' next move. And while DeRozan, unlike Caruso, has not yet been involved in any concrete negotiations, he could be headed to unrestricted free agency this offseason, similar to Vucevic last season.
So this week we'll likely hear speculation about DeRozan, Caruso and Andre Drummond. Like Caruso, there is known interest in Drummond, with league officials saying multiple teams have called to discuss possible trade scenarios.
“Those are things out of my control. I feel we've had enough,” Vucevic said. “We have a lot of things we can do better on the court. There were some unfortunate things to deal with, like injuries. But I believe we're good enough.”
Darren Terry sprained his right ankle on January 30th, but returned to full practice on Monday. Torrey Craig missed 22 games with a right plantar fascia sprain, but returned for his final game. However, Patrick Williams remains sidelined, and coach Billy Donovan said the Bulls had Caruso and Coby White out of Monday's practice with various aches and pains.
White is listed as probable and Caruso as questionable Tuesday. However, the Bulls will be without LaVine for the rest of the season, and are in ninth place in the Eastern Conference with just 23 wins and 27 losses. And on Tuesday, they play at home against LaVine's former team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, one of the best defensive teams in the NBA.
“We all know how much he wants to go out and play with us and how much time he puts into it. Injuries are the worst for a player. He has to sit out. I can't help my teammates,” Vucevic said. “It was tough for me when he missed those five games early on, and it was only five games. I can't imagine anything like this for him with the extra time.”
Donovan said the Bulls are a group of professionals focused on the task at hand, such as practices and games, rather than injuries or the trade deadline.
“It was a good practice,” he said.
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