From the start of the season, folding Nikola Vučević into the offense has stumped the Chicago Bulls.
In December, coach Billy Donovan admitted he still hadn’t found the right role for the center. Vučević’s 18 points per game represent a major dip in scoring from his previous seasons as an All-Star with the Orlando Magic. More importantly, the center seemed to fade completely from early games, only remaining steady statistically on the boards with 11.3 rebounds per game.
Donovan has continued to emphasize patience — and for a stretch in January and February, it seemed to pay off. But instead of growing with the team over the season, Vučević’s usage continues to fluctuate. His production has dropped a full point, down to 17.1 points per game, since the All-Star break.
With less than two weeks left in the regular season, the Bulls are still searching for an answer of how to utilize their star center.
“We’ve got to do a better job of finding (him) because he’s the connector for our offense,” Donovan said.
Part of the scoring problem has been Vučević’s efficiency from behind the arc. He’s shooting worse from 3-point range this season (31.6%) than he has since the 2017-18 season (31.4%), dropping below two made 3-pointers for the first time in three seasons.
Vučević hit a particularly cold shooting streak after the All-Star break. He missed 13-straight 3-pointers over the course of four games from the third quarter against the Sacramento Kings on March 14 to the second quarter of the Toronto Raptors matchup on March 21.
But despite this inaccuracy, Donovan said Vučević’s dip in scoring is equally affected by a lack of looks provided by Bulls guards.
“They definitely miss him,” Donovan said. “There’s moments where the ball gets kind of sprayed out and the next guy’s trying to put it on the floor and there’s no need to. Just go straight to him.”
Beyond feeding Vučević, ball movement has been a focal point for improvement all season for the Bulls. The Bulls offense stymies without rigorously spreading the ball. Relying on Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan to produce in isolation has become increasingly ineffective as opposing defenses overload both stars with double teams and traps.
For the Bulls, a higher assist ratio means a higher chance of winning the game. And Vučević is the central cog to this approach. Moving the ball through Vučević forces opponents to collapse, then scramble back out to the perimeter. The big man can also operate in the opposite capacity, using his catch-and-shoot versatility at the top of the arc to keep larger defenders from camping out in the paint for the trap.
“It’s much easier when we play it that way, when everybody’s involved and when the ball is moving and we make the defense move,” Vučević said. “It’s hard to guard because we have so much talent out there. We just have to play that way. When defenses load up on certain players, we need to move it to the other side and use me as an outlet.”
None of this is new information. The Bulls have been hammering the same essential game plan with Vučević — move the ball through him in the pocket, use his passing vision to spread the floor and encourage him to attack one-on-ones with gusto — since the start of the season. But something still isn’t clicking.
Donovan noted the youth of guards like Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu has played a part. Both guards are overeager to put the ball on the floor and attack closeouts, missing out on second and third reads for open and cutting teammates across the floor.
“One thing we struggle with is the anticipation of what’s getting ready to happen on both ends of the floor,” Donovan said. “Some of it is because of youthfulness in certain spots. But I do think that we’ve got to find ways … not so much that he’s gotta shoot it, but that he can get his skill level into the game.”
Eight games in two weeks is a tight window for the young guards to outgrow impatience, and Lonzo Ball remains unlikely to return before the end of the season. But for the Bulls, figuring out Vučević’s place in the offense is still a nonstarter all these months later.
When Vučević is a factor, the Bulls are more efficient as an offense. Without their center, the Bulls will be stuck with inefficiency that plagued the center at midseason.
“It’s in the heat of the moment, the awareness of making these quick decisions and even having an awareness that he’s there,” Donovan said. “It would make the game easier in terms of allowing him to connect the sides for us offensively to help us get downhill and get some penetration.”
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