Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic has been at the forefront of trade rumors for the better part of the past three years now.
Even as recently as the February 6 deadline, the veteran was heavily involved in such rumblings, with reports revealing that the Golden State Warriors even made a late push to attain his services.
Of course, as of this writing, the big man still finds himself residing out in the Windy City.
Despite his advanced age (34) and seemingly being past his All-Star days, from the counting stats to the sheer eye test Vucevic is still more than capable of providing quality efforts and contributions to a team in the association.
Of course, considering their youth-movement trajectory and, in turn, his reported desire to win now, the Bulls don’t appear to be the team that should be looking to benefit from his services.
In turn, such a situation should further incentivize the team to focus on one particular agenda this offseason: trade the center while his value is still relatively high.
Bulls must finally commit to trading Nikola Vucevic this summer
As evident by the reported involvement of 22-year-old Jonathan Kuminga in the failed Warriors-Bulls trade negotiations, Vucevic is a name that could still draw a desirable offer in Chicago’s direction.
Fortunately, there could very well be a slew of teams interested in adding an established bucket-getting, board-gobbling big like Vucevic into their mix, as he’s coming off one of the most efficient seasons of his career with stellar averages of 18.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists on 53.0 percent shooting from the floor and 40.2 percent shooting from distance.
Frankly, whether it be for a return package centered around a promising young prospect or draft capital, because the Bulls are suspected to be in line to shell out $30 million in annual salary to Josh Giddey Marc Eversley and company should make parting ways with the big man’s $21.4 million salary for 2025-26 the main priority this summer.
Add all this to the fact that the Bulls hold the rights to the 12 overall selection during this June’s NBA Draft and are in a prime position to snatch up coveted Duke standout Khaman Maluach to serve as his replacement option down in the post, and the 2025 offseason seems to be shaping up as the ideal time to finally move on from the ill-fitting five.
