When the The Chicago Bulls The management decided to start a new era, Nikola Vucevic was the first surprise acquisition. Today, three years later, he is perhaps the last survivor.
Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley decided to change direction after a failed experiment. Their core of Vucevic, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan failed to produce satisfactory results, the core officially closing its doors this offseason with just one playoff win. DeRozan is now trying to write a new story with the Sacramento Kings, while LaVine eagerly awaits his chance to grab some ink and pen. The worst kept secret in the NBA is both the Bulls and LaVine’s eagerness to part ways.
Meanwhile, Vucevic’s future remains uncertain. He quickly became a secondary concern as LaVine and DeRozan attempted to coexist. Despite that, Chicago still signed him to a $60 million contract last offseason, which keeps him tied to the franchise through the end of the 2025-26 season. has appeared quietly over the past two monthsBut those comments haven’t been followed by positive comments. Vucevic seems to be the veteran aside as the team begins its youth movement. And he commented on this for the first time in a recent interview.
Vucevic spoke to foreign media Meridian Sport in a wide-ranging discussion. Of course, he was asked about his time in Chicago, which led the big man to comment on the changes that have taken place during the offseason. Please note that we are sharing a transcript of the original interview provided by BasketNews.
“The rest of us are more focused on scoring: LaVine, DeRozan and me. [Lonzo Ball] “He brought us all together, sped up the game, was very important in defense, defended the best players with Caruso… Even if his statistics were perhaps not impressive, he was very important for us.”
We tried with young players, then we had many injuries. The trade negotiations also affected us, preventing us from getting the results we thought we could get, but when results don’t follow, changes come…
DeRozan is gone, Caruso is gone, the team got younger and they wanted to go in a different direction. We’ll see how the season goes and then decisions will be made based on that.
I’m sure we’ll get a much better understanding of what Vucevic thinks about the Bulls’ “different direction” at Media Day, but this is certainly an interesting start!
Nikola Vucevic talks about big changes
First of all, I can’t believe people on this team keep bringing up Lonzo Ball’s injury. Not only was it three seasons ago, but Ball was initially considered the fourth best player on the team. In other words, he should never have been given the responsibility of pushing this team in the right direction. That’s the job of the three All-Star players.
It’s also the job of these players to not let the rumors consume them, but here we are. While we can all understand how trade talk can negatively impact a locker room, I couldn’t help but laugh when I read that line from Vucevic. Trade talk didn’t stop them from getting the results they wanted. On the contrary, it was the Bulls’ inability to get those results that led to the trade talk.
In fact, the team’s management has been far more lenient than they should have been. They’ve missed THREE NBA trade deadlines in a row, which is a nearly impossible task in today’s NBA. No subpar roster has had a longer leash than this since the 2021 changes, so I honestly don’t want to hear anything about how trade talks have held them back.
Does this mean management did everything they could to avoid problems in the locker room? Of course not. They mishandled the Zach LaVine situation, letting those rumors fly less than a year after signing him to a new max contract. Still, I don’t accept that as the primary reason this group failed. The truth is, they simply played poorly. Need I remind Vucevic of his 29.4% three-point shooting?
The big man’s latest comment about the upcoming season is certainly intriguing. Even if things get lost in translation, it’s hard not to think he’s somewhat skeptical of the offseason moves. I imagine he’s particularly frustrated that winning doesn’t seem to be the priority. The 33-year-old isn’t getting any younger, and he came to Chicago expecting to be a consistent contender for the playoffs.
That’s probably why his latest comment leaves a lot of room for interpretation. I don’t necessarily think he’s the type to start a season with the intention of making waves, but he probably can’t take that many hits. I guess the good news is that if a market develops for him, the Bulls will likely jump at the chance to deal him. The bad news is that it might be hard to find the right market, especially with his $20 million salary.
But hey, that’s all the more reason for Nikola Vucevic to enter the season with some grudge. With DeRozan gone, the door has opened for him to find a key offensive role and improve his league rating. Do that, and he could soon be playing winning basketball elsewhere.
