Bulls say goodbye to Vucevic, then lose badly to Bucks

MILWAUKEE — Coby White was already the longest-tenured Bulls player. Before Tuesday's game against the Bucks, he added the role of locker room veteran.

As he spoke about teammate Niklola Vucevic, reportedly heading to Boston in a trade, White also knew he might be the next to go.

“Obviously, I'm going to miss him a lot,” White said in the locker room. “Tough day. Like everybody else, I guess it's part of the business, so we're supposed to be robots about it, I guess.”

White scored 21 points as the short-handed Bulls lost 131-115 to Milwaukee, which shot 23 of 38 from 3-point range. The NBA trade deadline isn't until 2 p.m. Thursday, so the Bulls should be expecting more trades.

There were reports of two Bulls trades Tuesday, neither yet official. They'll receive Jaden Ivey from Detroit, Mike Conley from Minnesota and Anfernee Simons from Boston. Vucevic is headed to the Celtics, with Kevin Huerter and Dario Saric destined for Detroit. Conley, 38, will likely be released once the trade is complete.

One thing the Bulls didn't do yet is add any big men. Jalen Smith started against the Bucks, but was limited to 20 minutes due to a calf strain.

“It's tough losing a high-value player (in Vucevic),” Smith said. “It's the NBA. It's the job we signed up for. We've got to be ready to play at any point in time. I felt good, my body's fine.”

Zach Collins is sidelined by a right toe sprain. He's back in a walking boot, and coach Billy Donovan suggested it’s possible Collins is done for the year if the toe doesn't feel better soon.

That leaves Smith, Matas Buzelis and two-way player Lachlan Olbrich as the only healthy players who are at least 6-8. The Bulls should be adding bigs so Buzelis can play small forward, but they're moving in the opposite direction.

“Whatever I've got to do to help the team win, I'm going to do it to the best of my abilities, and that's just what it's going to have to be tonight,” Buzelis said before Tuesday's game. “We'll see what happens in the future. Right now, that's what it is and I've got to stick to it and battle.”

The Bulls' next move is tough to predict. They're probably hoping Simons or Ivey can be long-term pieces in a brighter future. Both are on expiring contracts. Simons becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer while Ivey is restricted.

Ivey had some fun with the trade news when he asked jokingly on X if the No. 23 — which he wore with the Pistons — is available in Chicago. Obviously, he knows it's not.

There seems to be a feeling around the NBA the Bulls are working to move White and Ayo Dosunmu, Tuesday's starting guards.

“Obviously, I want to be here,” White said. “I love my teammates. At the end of the day, the front office is going to do what they think is best for the team, and I want this team to do nothing but succeed.

“So whatever they feel is best for the team, you know what I'm saying? I just want to see everybody here win.”

One move that doesn't appear to be in the cards for the Bulls is any sort of blockbuster trade before Thursday. That's disappointing because the Bulls were set up to make such a deal.

They should have been one of the favorites to land Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, because they could have offered the Bucks a complete reset. The Bulls could have taken back Antetokounmpo and center Myles Turner for all expiring contracts and however many first-round picks it took.

The Bucks are trying to stay cognizant of moving Antetokounmpo, currently out with a calf strain, to the destination of his choice, and the Bulls probably aren't it. Miami and Minnesota are rumored to be the current leaders, and the Bulls could jump in as a third-team facilitator, in theory.