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Nikola Vucevic, Chicago bulls

Nikola Vucevic is entering the final year of his three-year $60 million deal. He will become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2026. As such, Vucevic’s tenure with the Chicago Bulls will likely become a discussion point throughout the season.

Vucevic likely fanned the flames with his comments during his recent season-ending news conference. The veteran big man noted that he wants to be part of a winning team and make deep postseason runs.

“There are some good, young pieces that can be built around,” Vucevic said. “There are a lot of questions when you’re a team not fighting for the top. I have trust in them and believe they want to do what’s best and build a good team that wants to win. So we’ll see. Obviously, I’m at the stage in my career where I’m trying to win now, play in the playoffs and hopefully have deep playoff runs. It’s a young team and it does take time. It all depends on what their timeline is and how they see this team.”

At 34 years old, Vucevic is on the back nine of his career. It makes sense that he would rather be part of a winning organization, rather than anchoring a rebuilding roster. He doesn’t have many years in the NBA left in front of him.

Previous Reports Linked Vucevic with Staying

According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Vucevic has previously indicated a desire to remain with Chicago for the final year of his contract.

“One player who’s suddenly buying in — and would like to stay another season and finish out his contract — is Vucevic,” Cowley wrote. “That’s a bit surprising, especially after good friend DeMar DeRozan was traded to the Kings and Alex Caruso to the Thunder last summer, followed by the LaVine trade. All signs had pointed to Vucevic being traded by the Feb.  6 deadline, and when he wasn’t, there were concerns he’d check out.”

Of course, the Bulls’ inability to qualify for the postseason could have impacted Vucevic’s thinking. Furthermore, Chicago could look to part ways with Vucevic during the summer to remove the risk of losing him for nothing next season.

Bulls Fans Urged to Show Patience

When speaking to the media on April 17, Vice President of Basketball Operations Artura Karnisovas asked for patience from the fanbase.

“I’m asking for the fans to have patience,” Karnisovas said. “We’re in the first year of that transition. I though that the way we finished the year shows some promise. It’s hard to win games in this league. But to finish 15-5, it’s not a victory lap, but I think there are some positives. I think we gotta keep on building this group by adding another player in the lottery. Going into free agency and adding another piece. And, obviously, going into the summer, that’s when the players get better.”

The Bulls have an exciting young core in place. If the front office can re-sign Josh Giddey and ink Coby White to an extension, then everything will be moving in the right direction. Chicago’s front office clearly has a vision for how to rebuild the roster. Unfortunately for Bulls fans, that rebuild isn’t going to happen overnight.