Déjà vu All Over Again

Late in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s 117-115 win over the Pistons, new Bulls’ guard Patrick Beverly called out center Nikola Vucevic for not helping Beverly guard Jaden Ivey, who scored on a layup. TV cameras caught Beverly and Vucevic exchanging words. Same old same old with the Bulls. They bring in a veteran known for his defense in the hope that that talent will somehow rub off on his new team. Didn’t work with Rajon Rondo, it won’t work with Beverly. Vucevic is an offense-first and, for the most part, offense-only player; rebounds, assists and screens are pretty much a happy accident. If ever a guy could have both hard hands and a soft touch, it’s Vucevic. Basically, Beverly is seeing this up close and personal for the first time; welcome to the club, Patrick. The old front office thought Rondo would fix things; the new front office has the same idea with Beverly. Maybe if they’d both been brought in as rookies, it could’ve worked. But Rondo was already thirty when he signed with the Bulls back in 2016, and Beverly is thirty-four, neither an age to try miracle-working. Obviously, the folks on Madison Street feel differently.