Vucevic scorching hot from 3-point range; how will it affect his trade value

No one knew what to expect from the Bulls this season, but this item still counts as a surprise:

Nikola Vucevic ranking fifth in the NBA in 3-point percentage.

In his 14th NBA season, Vucevic is not only locked in from long range — shooting 47.4% heading into Monday's game at Toronto — he's at a career-high in overall field-goal percentage at 58 percent. He's never come close to either number previously in his career.

Vucevic scored 24 points Monday and hit 2 of 4 shots from 3-point range as the Bulls held off a late rally to win at Toronto 122-121. Zach LaVine missed the game with a back injury and Josh Giddey left the floor with an ankle injury.

Part of the change in Vucevic’s success rate can be attributed to the Bulls' style of play. They're trying to push the tempo on every possession, move the ball and find open 3s. Just about every player on the team has more looks from behind the arch.

But this performance is also a reaction to Vucevic shooting a lowly 29.4% from 3-point range last season. That wasn't technically a career-low, but the veteran center barely attempted any 3s during the first six years of his career.

“I'm glad it's been going well,” Vucevic said last week. “I put a lot of work in it over the summer, trying to figure out why last year I didn't shoot the ball well from 3. Made a few adjustments and that's been paying off.”

Vucevic worked with Bulls player development coach Peter Patton over the summer and also consulted with one of his longtime shooting coaches in his native Montenegro.

“It was nothing major,” he said. “Just my hand positioning, staying in shots, taking my time, gathering more. Things of that nature.”

Vucevic had more 3-point attempts in his final few years in Orlando than he's gotten in Chicago. One difference was his overall usage rate was much higher with the Magic. Vucevic, 34, wasn't getting the same number of closer looks in the post and his outside shooting seemed to suffer because of it.

As much as the offensive style has helped his shooting, the departure of DeMar DeRozan to Sacramento could be another factor. Sometimes it felt like Vucevic was a distant third in the offensive pecking order behind DeRozan and Zach LaVine.

But that wasn't the case last year, when LaVine missed most of the season with a foot injury. Vucevic was second on the team in shot attempts, with more (15.7) than he's getting this year (14.2).

“I knew I was a much better shooter than I showed last year,” Vucevic said. “I think because I didn't really start off well, I tried to kind of force my way out of it and was maybe taking some that weren't there or shooting it too quick. Just not shooting it the way I should.

“I started to look at some of those and see if there's anything wrong mechanically. Also came into this season trying to not worry about what happened last year, just put it behind, knowing I'm a much better shooter than that. The way we play allows me to get a lot of trail open 3s, which are some of my favorites.”

So what does this mean for Vucevic's trade value? It's still probably a tight market. He's shooting it well, but two things are keeping his value down — the lack of rim protection on defense and another year at $20 million left on his contract.

Never say never, but moving Vucevic or LaVine before the February trade deadline feels like a long shot.