Warriors could acquire Bulls' $60 million center to address glaring issue

The Golden State Warriors were one of the hottest teams in the NBA to begin the season. They started the campaign 12-3 but have recently hit a rough stretch that has seen their record move to 15-14 and has resulted in them falling to 10^th in the Western Conference standings.

Stephen Curry is once again playing at an All-NBA level and both Andrew Wiggins and Jonahtan Kuminga have improved from last season, but the Warriors still have a glaring issue they need to fix. That issue is their lack of frontcourt depth.

While the Warriors have Draymond Green, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kevon Looney manning their frontcourt, the lack of scoring coming from those players has been a huge issue. Green is averaging 8.5 points per game, which leads this trio of players.

Golden State could fix this issue before the Feb. 6 trade deadline by making a move with the Chicago Bulls for their All-Star center, Nikola Vucevic. Vucevic has had a great season thus far as he is averaging 20.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 57.8% from the field and 45.2% from three.

According to Forbes’ Evan Sidery, the Warriors have checked in with the Bulls on Vucevic. He also mentioned that they have expiring contracts and draft capital to work out a potential deal with Chicago to land him.

In a possible trade, the Warriors could send Gary Payton II, Looney, Lindy Waters III and draft picks to Chicago for Vucevic. With Vucevic not gaining much interest in the trade market, the Bulls may be limited on what they will receive in return for their star big man, but this trade would give them much-needed draft capital to continue their rebuild.

For the Warriors, adding Vucevic to their starting lineup would fill a glaring hole, especially offensively. The 34-year-old is having one of the best scoring seasons of his career, and it could be even better with defenses swarming to Curry on the perimeter. He would also be able to work the pick-and-roll with Curry while also being able to pop outside the arc and knock down threes.

By making this trade, Golden State would fix the main problem with their roster, which could help them turn their season around and chase another title in the Curry, Draymond and Steve Kerr era.

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