Speaking to Lukas Katilius of BasketNews.com ahead of Montenegro’s 27-point loss to Lithuania at EuroBasket 2025, a game in which he recorded 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block, Bulls center Nikola Vucevic said he has a strong relationship with head of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas.
Vucevic has been the subject of trade rumors for several months, including speculation in late July about a potential mid-season buyout if Chicago is unable to eventually find a deal it likes.
“It has been very good. We have good communication,” Vucevic said of his relationship with Karnisovas. “He has always been pretty open with me. Even just a couple of weeks ago, when the buyout news came out, he actually texted me to tell me not to worry about it and not to read into it.
“I have known AK for a long time. When I did my pre-draft workout, he was with Houston and took me out to dinner for an interview. So I have known him for a very long time.”
Vucevic, who turns 35 years old in October, is on an expiring $21.48MM contract. He defended Karnisovas’ tenure, saying he liked a lot of the moves the front office has made over the years, but noted the previous iteration of the team battled injuries (Lonzo Ball, among others) and the Bulls weren’t sure how to pivot until they decided to turn to “slightly younger players.”
Vucevic said earlier this month he has “almost no doubt” that he’ll open the season with the Bulls and told BasketNews he was very open to staying in Chicago, though he acknowledged that wasn’t necessarily in his control.
“Yes, of course. I mean, it has been good for me there,” Vucevic said. “We will see—I have one more year left with them, so we will see what happens if I stay or if something changes. But yeah, obviously, I would love to win in Chicago.”
While he isn’t the most nimble defender or a great rim protector, Vucevic’s per-game production has been quite consistent over his Bulls tenure and he has also been durable. The two-time All-Star had one of his most efficient offensive seasons in 2024/25, averaging 18.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game with a shooting line of .530/.402/.805 in 73 regular season appearances (31.2 MPG).
Stay in Chicago the rest of your life. Please sign
Vuc will finish the upcoming season on the Warriors on the veterans minimum. The Warriors instantly become unbeatable with a big man who can score + Dray + Steph + Jimmy. While he is not the best defender, I think we would all rather have him post up Joker instead of Gary Payton 2.
If he gets bought out of his contract the Warriors can’t sign him Davey. With the new cba when expensive players get bought out they can’t join teams above the salary apron.
Their only path path to acquiring Vooch is a trade, likely matching Kuminga’s salary, but I doubt it happens.
That remains to be seen. The Warriors are currently well under the 1st and 2nd aprons. This source says almost 25 mil under the 1st:
$170,969,365 (-$24,975,635 under first apron)
link to sportsbusinessclassroom.com
Exactly, @NBA is OK
@jacobjackson – why did you think that was true? I get the new CBA is difficult to understand, just trying to figure out how you landed on this?
That’s with nine players. Not including Kuminga, Horford, and the minimums to fill out the roster. They will be an apron team.
Still does not = Warriors “can’t sign him”. You are predicting the future, obviously other moves would have to be made but the Warriors 100% can sign him after Dec 15. You are being delusional and adding boundaries that do not exist.
Sorry Davey, as someone who’s watched him in depth the last few years, he is not changing the trajectory of your team. I think there’s a 10% chance any of us could score on him
1. As written in my OP: he’s not there for defense, he’s there for scoring. 2. A big body to at least stand in the key is more than what GSW has already. You are literally arguing Gary Payton 2 is a better C than Vuc. Wrong. 3. GSW regularly go small til failure anyway, so you don’t know about “changing the trajectory of the team” – also you have been watching the Bulls be inept the last 25 years, so your own ideas of what is needed are way off. Bogut also wasn’t a great defender. Sometimes you just need a big who is a plus, not elite. He’s never played with Dray and Jimmy together before, they know how to use him. 4. He’s an improvement over Post and TJD.
Sorry Ben, but reality gets in their way of you just wanting to argue here. You are just plain wrong.
Lol I hope he winds up in GS. All love from me, never looking to argue just letting you know that with Vuc, it looks better than it is. I truly hope you recover from whatever ails you and causes your constant antagonism on this site
Lol you started your post with “Sorry Davey” and then claimed I’m being antagonistic. Every word of your reply was antagonistic. You know everyone can see this, right?
“It looks better than it is” I don’t trust your eyesight, sorry Benjavain. I have Draymond Green on my team, our “needs” don’t match up at all. Vuc is on a team that is not built to win, GSW are.
In this new age of FA. An expiring contract is not what it use to be. Vuc could be used in a bigger trade or as a third team. I see him staying till trade deadline. Then if he is not traded he gets bought out.
Bulls are lost to me. I don’t get anything they do. Its like they throw up shhh on the wall to see what sticks …. Starting with their coach. Why would you resign a coach who is 195-205 in his 5yrs there.
Emphasis on the “shhh”