It appears that it might be in the best interest of Chicago Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic to find his way back to the Windy City next season.
“If he can’t stay in Chicago, Vooch is probably going to have to take a bargain somewhere,” a rival general manager tells Heavy Sports NBA insider Sean Deveney. “Just go to a place he wants to be and accept he is not going to get a max deal for it, or anything close. Like [Danilo] Gallinari did in Boston last summer.”
Gallinari was bought out from the final year of his contract at $21 million last offseason following a trade from the Atlanta Hawks to the San Antonio Spurs who sent out Dejounte Murray. The veteran forward went on to sign a two-year, $13.3 million pact with his favorite team as a child.
Vucevic and Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas have both expressed a desire to continue their relationship. Karnisovas gave up a bounty of assets to acquire the two-time All-Star ahead of the 2021 trade deadline.
Nikola Vučević on his impending free agency. He said he wants to re-sign with the Bulls.
The deal has been widely panned but the Bulls have a 92-89 record all-time with Vucevic.
For his part, Vucevic has also openly discussed exploring his options as an unrestricted free agent this offseason, though judging by the rival GM’s words, his market may be suppressed.
Nikola Vucevic’s Options Could Be Limited
“Dallas is a candidate there,” the general manager tells Deveney. “He has a good relationship with Luka [Doncic]. Miami, he would like to play in Miami—every NBA player wants to play in Miami. But both of those teams are probably going to be taxpayers so there would have to be something that happens first to clear room. But there would be interest.”
The need to clear room coupled with Vucevic’s potential asking price and suspect defense could be more than enough cause for pause for two teams looking to make the leap from playoff team – or to playoff team in the Mavs’ case – to title contenders.
A happy medium could be out there.
But it might not exist in the situation that he would prefer with the exec also name-dropping an Eastern Conference bottom-feeder as an option.
“Charlotte might be willing to make a real run at him,” the GM speculated. “They have had an eye on him for a while, he has played for Steve Clifford before. If he would take a short deal, a one-year deal in the low $20s, I would say, that could get him to a place like Charlotte. I think he wants to stay in Chicago, but the question is whether they want to keep him there.”
An In-House Replacement for Nikola Vucevic
“With their team, [Andre Drummond] is not a bad option for low money,” the exec said. “He rebounds and he does not need shots, he chews up space defensively. But they were not a good offensive team when he is on the floor, he is such a bad passer and he sucks up space on that end, too. I don’t think those players there would be all that happy if they did not invest in that position a little bit more.”
Despite the league trending away from featuring bigs with his particular skill set, Drummond has maintained supreme confidence in his ability to make something happen.
Dre’s too strong.
Drummond had an up-and-down season dealing with mental health issues and garnering inconsistent minutes from head coach Billy Donovan.
Part of that is due to Donovan often leaning toward smaller lineups. But Drummond has gone from a two-time All-Star to a (standout) bench performer over the last few years, starting all 482 of his appearances from the 2014 season through the 2019 campaign.
The 6-foot-11, 279-pounder has a $3.4 million player option for next season.
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Rival GM Delivers Reality Check to Bulls Big Man Nikola Vucevic