The Warriors had their sights set on another big move after their reported trade for star forward Jimmy Butler on Wednesday.
In the final hours before Thursday’s 12 p.m. PT NBA trade deadline, Golden State discussed a trade with the Chicago Bulls for center Nikola Vučević, but the two teams were unable to agree to a trade package, NBA insider Marc Stein reported Thursday, citing league sources.
This wasn’t the Warriors’ first attempt to pry Vučević away from the Bulls, after Golden State reportedly discussed a trade with Chicago that would have sent the big man, plus guard Zach LaVine, to the Bay Area before focusing their trade efforts elsewhere.
The Bulls then traded LaVine to the Sacramento Kings in the multi-team deal that landed star point guard De’Aaron Fox with the San Antonio Spurs.
In 51 games with the Bulls this season, Vučević is averaging 19.5 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on 54.6-percent shooting from the field and 39.4 percent from 3-point range.
The 6-foot-10 center is one of the best stretch bigs in the league, and certainly would have added a new element to the Warriors’ offense had they pulled off the big trade.