Chicago Bulls announce unfortunate news after Nikola Vucevic trade

The Chicago Bulls’ Nikola Vucevic era is officially over. This is after the Bulls agreed to trade the two-time All-Star to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Anfernee Simons. Vucevic leaves Chicago after six seasons with the team. In 378 games played for the Bulls, the 6-foot-9 center averaged 18.1 points on 49.9% shooting, 10.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 32.8 minutes per contest. Vucevic also knocked down 1.6 triples per game on a 34.9% clip.

The Bulls just gave up their starting center for a 6-foot-3 shooting guard. This means that the Bulls will need to fill a massive void in their frontcourt now that Vucevic is out of the picture for good.

The Bulls were in action on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks. Chicago got Jalen Smith back after a two-game absence due to a calf injury. The 25-year-old took Vucevic’s spot in the starting lineup. Smith finished with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, five rebounds and one assist in 20 minutes of action.

It was far from enough to help lift Chicago, though. They suffered another blowout loss, 131-115. This defeat follows Sunday’s embarrassing 134-91 loss against the Miami Heat.

Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan shares troubling Zach Collins update

Zach Collins emerged as an important figure for the Bulls after the Vucevic trade. The 6-foot-9 center was Vucevic’s primary backup before Collins got injured. After missing the first six weeks of the NBA season due to a wrist injury, Collins sprained his right big toe in December. The 28-year-old big man has been out of commission since.

The Bulls need Collins back now that Vucevic has moved on. At this point, Chicago only has Smith and rookie Lachlan Olbrich as their primary frontcourt players. The bad news for the Bulls is that Collins has no firm timetable for his return. In fact, head coach Billy Donovan announced on Tuesday that Collins, who has played just 10 games this season, could be out for the rest of the way.

‘‘That could happen,” Donovan responded when asked about Collins sitting out the rest of the campaign. “As they put him two more weeks into the boot, I think how he comes out of that is going to tell a lot. He’s going to need a ramp-up period in order to run. … The whole thing right now has been trying to prevent surgery.’

‘‘When he comes out of the boot, would there be a runway for him to play? ‘He’s doing everything he can to play, wants to play, but can he get healed in time? That’s going to be the biggest question.’’

To be clear, the Bulls have not ruled out the possibility of Collins’ return this season. However, Donovan’s most recent update is far from encouraging.

The Bulls will be back in action on Thursday. They close out their current four-game road trip with a matchup against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. Chicago enters that contest with a 24-27 record. As of writing, they are 10th in the Eastern Conference.

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