(670 The Score) The Bulls’ biggest shakeup this offseason might come at the center position.
The Bulls have interest in adding Jazz center Rudy Gobert or Knicks center Mitchell Robinson, Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer reported Monday. Gobert is expected to be available on the trade market as the Jazz are an organization in flux after coach Quin Snyder’s recent exit, while Robinson is set to become an unrestricted free agent.
The Bulls currently have Nikola Vucevic manning the center position, and he has one year remaining on his contract. Vucevic had an uneven past season, averaging 17.6 points and 11.0 rebounds while shooting 47.3% overall and 31.4% on 3-pointers. Vucevic is widely considered a below-average defender.
The addition of Gobert or Robinson would presumably mean that Vucevic would be traded. Both would be a big defensive upgrade over Vucevic. Gobert is a three-time All-Star and a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, winning the award in 2018, 2019 and 2021. He also led the NBA with 14.7 rebounds per game this past season.
Gobert, 29, is rather limited on the offensive end, mainly serving as a premier lob threat, but the Bulls’ need isn’t scoring if they can retain star guard Zach LaVine when he hits unrestricted free agency. The Bulls were 13th in offensive efficiency and 23rd in defensive efficiency in the 2021-’22 regular season.
The difficulty for the Bulls in trading for Gobert is that he’s owed around $167 million over the next four seasons. His lucrative contract would likely push the Bulls near the luxury tax and create a situation in which they’d be filling out much of their roster with minimum-salary players. The Jazz also figure to want premier young talent and draft capital in return. The Bulls currently owe the Magic a first-round pick in 2023 and the Spurs a first-round pick in 2025.
While not the best-of-the-best defender that Gobert is, the 24-year-old Robinson is a strong rim protector himself. His 1.8 blocks per game ranked fifth in the NBA last season, and opponents shot 53.9% inside of six feet against him, per NBA.com, one of the better marks in the league. Foes shot 63.3% against Vucevic inside six feet.
Robinson averaged 8.5 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting 76.1% in 25.7 minutes across 72 games last season.