![\"Nikola](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2184420061-e1754128733500.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto by Sarah Stier\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Nikola Vucevic, Chicago Bulls<\/p>\n
Nikola Vucevic<\/a> is entering the final season of his 3-year $60 million contract<\/a> with the Chicago Bulls<\/a>. The two-time All-Star will become an unrestricted free agent next summer.<\/p>\n Chicago would likely entertain trade offers for the veteran center, should a team show genuine interest in acquiring him. Alternatively, the Bulls could potentially consider buying him out of the remainder of his contract if trade interest doesn\u2019t materialize between now and the February 2026 trade deadline.<\/p>\n According to Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> insider Anthony Irwin, the Purple and Gold are monitoring Vucevic\u2019s situation. If the Bulls do decide to part ways with the veteran center via a buyout, a potential move to Lakerland could be on the horizon.<\/p>\n \u201cThis does leave a few interesting free agents still, not even including eventual buyout candidates like Chicago\u2019s Nikola Vucevic,\u201d Irwin reported via ClutchPoints.<\/a> \u201cAs they did with Smart, the Lakers are closely monitoring that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Vucevic is coming off one of his best seasons in a Bulls\u2019 jersey. It\u2019s hard to envision the franchise buying him out of his current deal. However, if a trade doesn\u2019t materialize, Chicago will lose the veteran for nothing sooner or later<\/p>\n Bulls Unlikely to Buy Out Vucevic<\/p>\n An anonymous NBA executive recently told Sean Deveney of Athlon Sports<\/a>\u00a0that Chicago won\u2019t buy out Vucevic\u2019s contract if a trade fails to materialize.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re not looking to buy him out,\u201d the executive said. \u201cIf there is one thing that has been consistent about Jerry Reinsdorf over 40 years\u2013and he is the same with the White Sox (Reinsdorf also owns MLB\u2019s South Side team in Chicago)\u2013it is that he does not pay players or coaches to not play or coach for him.\u201d<\/p>\n Vucevic played in 73 regular-season games for the Bulls last season. He averaged 18.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 53% from the field and 40.2% from 3-point range. His ability to impact games on both sides of the floor, control the glass and stretch the offense are all reasons why he will likely have a significant free agency market next summer.<\/p>\n Vucevic Could Head to Europe After Leaving Bulls<\/p>\n Regardless of whether the Bulls buy out Vucevic or he sees out the final year of his current deal, it would appear there will be European suitors for his skills once he becomes available.<\/p>\n Kevin Martorano of Sportando<\/a> recently reported that at least two European teams are currently pursuing Vucevic.<\/p>\n \u201cAccording to SportKlub<\/a>, the situation is also being closely monitored by several European clubs, especially in the EuroLeague,\u201d Martorano reported.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cVucevic is a well-known fan of Crvena Zvezda Belgrade, which could fuel dreams among the Serbian club\u2019s supporters of landing a major signing\u2026Additionally, Panathinaikos \u2014 currently searching for a center \u2014 could also be interested in the player, as well as other financially powerful European teams.\u201d<\/p>\n Vucevic will undoubtedly have a range of options at his disposal when he does eventually become a free agent. However, after such a strong showing last season, the Bulls are highly unlikely to part ways with him this season, unless a viable trade offer arises. Still, you can never count out the Lakers as a potential draw, especially if Vucevic believes he can compete for a championship there.<\/p>\n Whether the Lakers\u2019 interest would push him toward a buyout request is uncertain. But the Lakers\u2019 interest will certainly be an interesting subplot to watch in the coming months.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdam Taylor<\/a> is a basketball reporter covering the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns for Heavy. He has also written for CelticsBlog, USA Today, Yardbarker and FanSided. Adam has a bachelor\u2019s degree in creative writing from Open University. More about Adam Taylor<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Bulls\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Sarah Stier\/Getty Images Nikola Vucevic, Chicago Bulls Nikola Vucevic is entering the final season of his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-39844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}