What the Chicago Bulls should do with the Nikola Vucevic situation

What’s next for the Chicago Bulls and Nikola Vucevic

If there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that Nikola Vucevic and the Chicago Bulls face a big decision coming up. Vucevic will be set to enter the last year of his contract, and the Bulls will have to decide whether or not they want to extend their 31-year-old center.

While most fans are begging for him to be traded, there’s a chance the Bulls management could see things differently. They have maintained since the all-star break that it is tough to evaluate this team because they’ve been healthy for so little time together. In fact, the core of Lonzo-LaVine-DeMar-Vucevic has only played 95 minutes together on the court this year. During that time, their net rating is +12.5 and the Bulls’ record is 12-5.

For the record, I think it’s worth exploring trades built around Vucevic, but they don’t need to force one if nothing is there. Everything depends on what else transpires around the league in the offseason. Will Jokic surprise everyone and turn down the supermax? Does KAT decide he wants a change of scenery? Will the Suns pass on paying Ayton the max?

If any of those three names come available, I think it’d be malpractice for the Bulls to not pick up the phone and inquire. I’d go as far to say it’d be genuinely disappointing if any of those three names hit the trade block and Chicago misses out given their assets and premier market.  However, the Bulls don’t need to trade Vucevic for the sake of it. They’d be better off establishing a better frontcourt and bench guard depth around him. Names like Bobby Portis come to mind as someone the Bulls could consider bringing back to Chicago.

Other names like Rudy Gobert have been circulated, but he has one of the worst contracts and would be a horrible fit next to someone like DeMar who operates in the mid-range.

Ultimately, this will be a very interesting summer for the Bulls as they attempt to evaluate a roster they never actually saw at full strength and try to come up with ways to improve. Whether Vucevic is a part of their long-term plans or not is to be seen, but regardless of if they trade him, the Bulls issues we’ve seen recently go much deeper than the numbers Nikola Vucevic has put up.