The Chicago Bulls were full of hope when they first traded for Nikola Vucevic in 2021. The Montenegrin big was supposed to become the high-impact interior presence who would become the rock Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan could rely on as they tried to make strides in the playoffs.
However, the team failed to make consistent deep playoff runs over the three-and-a-half seasons Vucevic has been in the team. While Vucevic may have had a part in their shortcomings, it can also be chocked to injuries and a lack of synergy in the roster.
Now that the Bulls are looking to move on from him and the rest of the core they’ve kept for the past couple of seasons, plenty of questions loom over his head.
Since the Bulls failed to offload him in the offseason, the team may be forced to look for an interested party at a certain point of the season. While he’s waiting for the axe to fall on his Bulls career, the center wants to make one thing clear about his NBA career.
Nikola Vucevic still wants to play NBA basketball after leaving the Chicago Bulls
According to Sir Charles in Charge’s Michael Saenz, Vucevic thinks he still has at least four more years left in him to play high-level basketball.
Saenz writes how he could still be impactful in today’s NBA:
In theory, if Vucevic can continue to be a serviceable defender, you’d have to assume that his game isn’t going to age that terribly – especially if he can continue to extend his range. While he’s had a couple of difficult 3-point shooting seasons recently, he did shoot 40 percent from distance during the 2020-21 season.
The foundation is there for him to be a good 3-point shooter; it’s something he may have to put more work on as he continues to age. Vucevic is not the rim-protector that Brook Lopez is, but there could be some similarities in how he was able to expand his game with age.
Vucevic finished his latest season with the Chicago Bulls on a pretty good note: he averaged 18.0 PPG, 10.5 RPG, and 3.3 APG. If he learns to develop a three ball, there’s no reason why he won’t find a team that’s interested in his services.
