Bulls’ Nikola Vucevic Situation May End in a Buyout

For now, Nikola Vucevic remains a member of the Chicago Bulls. For now, while both those in the team’s front office and those in the media sphere try to find a trade that will split the two up, he is pencilled in as next year’s starting center in the Windy City.

Those trade ideas, however, are starting to become thin. And actual tangible rumors of interest in Vucevic appears even thinner. Put simply, there is not much interest in Vucevic around the league.

Turning 35 years old in October, but still set to earn $21,481,481 this season, Vucevic is not a coveted player in the market. It is not because he is a bad player; rather, it is because he is earning a lot of money while no longer having many starting spots available to him (if any), has no team control, and is increasingly hard to cover for on the defensive end as he slows down and the game speeds up.

This, then, reduces the number of options on the table. And if they cannot deal him, one of the other options might becoming more appealing. Maybe the Bulls would be best served just buying Vucevic out.

Bulls Hampered By Limited Market

To be fair, there probably are some trades available to the Bulls, in some form. That does not however mean that there are favorable trades available to them. The difficulty is finding one that is better for them to take than just letting Vucevic expire, or buying him out.

The Bulls maintain their interest in Jonathan Kuminga of the Golden State Warriors, and in theory, Vucevic’s salary would be a big help in facilitating any such deal. However, the Warriors are suitably bound by the apron system that the parameters of what they can take back are very limited. And if they have limited flexibility/motivation to make a Kuminga deal, they will certainly want something more favorable returning to them than an aged center who scratches no immediate itches.

This is the problem the Bulls are finding all over the market. Money and financial wiggle room are limited around the league, and despite a quality 13-season NBA career, Vucevic at this price point does not merit what little there is being used on his current contract. Were he a free agent, his agent’s phone would be blowing up. But he is not.

Not yet, at least.

Time For Plan B – Or C

If the Bulls cannot trade Vucevic, as appears increasingly to be the case, they then have three options as to what to do with his contract.

Firstly, they could extend it. The NBA’s rules on veteran contract extensions do not require extensions to be the same size or larger than the previous deals; in theory, then, Vucevic could take a pay cut in exchange for more years. Vucevic as a $21 million-per annum focal offensive piece is not the one, but Vucevic as a $10 million per annum savvy veteran backup who will provide quality depth in the twilight of his career while also having better resale value at that price point is not a bad outcome at all.

Secondly, they could just let him play out this season and let his contract expire. There would in theory exist the option of a sign-and-traded next summer, and even if that does not happen, Vucevic will improve the team this season, which probably has some meaningful value to a Bulls franchise that refuses to bottom out.

Thirdly, and not necessarily lastly, comes the buyout. If neither he nor the Bulls are going anywhere as constructed, why continue?

Bulls’ Best Bet May Be Buyout

If Vucevic were to give back, say, a third of his contract value, in the highly likely anticipation of getting another contract elsewhere (something he and his representatives would be permitted to do by the Bulls in advance, were buyout negotiations to take place), it might be the best thing for the Bulls to let him do that. This would mean $14 million in dead cap. But if it is a binary choice between that, or taking on a two-year $50 million unwanted contract from elsewhere that does not meaningfully improve the team, it may be the best outcome.

This is a far cry from the first-round pick that the Bulls were said to be demanding in a  Vucevic trade at the time of the last deadline. But the first was not there then, and is really not there now, as another half season has passed on his contract into his legs. Seemingly, nothing of value is. At this point, $7 million in savings, a roster spot to air out someone with greater potential and a negligible step back in 2025-26 record might be the best outcome for all concerned.

The Bulls are adamant that their approach to building a competitor with eight or nine good players instead of two or three stars is the right one, but neither on the court nor in the market is Nikola Vucevic helping them to achieve that any longer.