NBA Star Nikola Vucevic Defends Controversial Chicago Bulls Executive

With those players in place as the future core of the team (even though Giddey is a restricted free agent), the Bulls have decisions to make on veterans.

The Direction of the Bulls

A decision was already made on Alex Caruso before the start of the 2024 season, as he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey.

Lonzo Ball was traded in the 2025 offseason to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Isaac Okoro, and Zach LaVine was dealt to the Sacramento Kings before the 2025 trade deadline.

That left the Bulls with a young core, much less talent, and one of the remaining veterans on the team, Nikola Vucevic.

Vucevic's Clouded Future

Rumors have run rampant over the course of the 2025 offseason for the Bulls veteran center. The Lakers and Warriors were both mentioned as potential destinations for Vucevic. Still, the Warriors seem to be aligned on signing Al Horford, and the Lakers have signed DeAndre Ayton.

Vucevic, going into the final year of a three-year, $60 million contract extension, is still highly valuable as an offensive stretch big.

In 73 games in the 2024-2025 season, he averaged 18.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, while shooting an incredible 53 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from three-point range.

The Bulls' Outlook

Vucevic is set to lead the Montenegro national team in what he has hinted will likely be his final EuroBasket tournament, and is the only current NBA player on the roster.

In Montenegro's opening game against Germany, Vucevic scored a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds in a loss.

He opened up about his future with the Bulls and had some positive things to say about executive Arturas Karnisovas during a conversation with BasketNews.

"When he first got there, I thought he made some very good moves—signing Lonzo, Caruso, Vucevic, and DeMar. I thought it was a very good team; it just did not work out. After that, sometimes it is hard to figure out what to do next. We had a lot of injuries and other challenges, but overall, I think he has done a good job," he said.

"Now they have decided to go with slightly younger players, and they did a good job in the draft as well. I think it is understandable that fans want results right away, but sometimes you need to be patient. Overall, I think he has done some pretty good things.”