The Magic and the Bulls are often mentioned in the same breath by NBA pundits these days, and likely will be for some time. This is because there is ongoing discussion about the now-infamous trade the two teams made with each other back in March of 2021. That trade saw Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter, and Chicago’s 2021 and 2023 first-round picks sent to Orlando in exchange for Nikola Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu.
The seemingly unanimous consensus, both at the time as the trade has aged, is that the Magic won the deal. On any given night, Wendell Carter Jr. is a more effective player than Vucevic, who was in a sense the centerpiece of the deal. The 2021 Chicago first-round pick became budding star Franz Wagner. And the Magic will still take on the Bulls’ first rounder this spring, provided it doesn’t land in the top four (it almost certainly won’t). All in all, it’s one of the more lopsided deals in recent memory in favor of the Magic, and it has arguably set Orlando up to be a more successful franchise than Chicago for the next decade.
At least, that’s the narrative. But on Saturday night in Orland, it looked as if the Bulls were beginning to take said narrative personally.
The Bulls started the game hot, with Vucevic, Zach LaVine, and Patrick Williams carrying the early scoring load. Vucevic in particular appeared to be fired up for the matchup, notching nine points and six rebounds against his trade counterpart in the first quarter alone. This helped the Bulls to an early 25-19 lead, and unfortunately for the Magic, the second quarter brought more of the same. The pace picked up for both teams, but Vucevic stayed hot, adding eight more points to bring his halftime total to 17. DeMar DeRozan got going for Chicago as well, with the result that even as the Magic bench made strong contributions, the score at the intermission was 60-47 in favor of the Bulls.
Vucevic poured in nine more points in a third quarter that looked much the same from Chicago. And while the Magic did more to keep pace –– largely by way of an 11-point burst by Mo Wagner in less than two minutes’ time –– they failed to trim the deficit. The score heading into the final quarter of play was 95-81, and though the elder Wagner stayed hot and the Vucevic show finally wrapped up (he didn’t score in the fourth), the Bulls gradually built on their lead. A Zach LaVine jumper with 36 seconds to play spread the margin to 19, and the game effectively ended with a Vucevic rebound at the other end.
For the Magic, it was a disappointing outing on several fronts. For one thing, the fledgling two-headed monster of Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero essentially wasn’t heard from; it’s possible both young players are experiencing a little bit of fatigue as they continue to grow accustomed to the rigors of a full NBA schedule. For another, Markelle Fultz cooled off significantly after a series of excellent games Mo Wagner’s 27-point explosion off the bench was certainly a bright spot, and Cole Anthony turned in one of his better performances. But the Magic know they aren’t going to win many games when their starters don’t produce.
The real drama of this latest Magic loss, however, was the Vucevic showing. Undoubtedly, the Magic will still prove to have “won” their trade with Chicago in time. Already, the duo of Carter and Franz Wagner is more valuable than Vucevic, and the Magic will likely draft another rookie this spring as a result of the trade. On this night in Orlando however, Vucevic gave us a reminder of why he was the original prize in the deal. And the Bulls had a great night because of it.
