Vucevic Trade Watch 2025

[dougthonus]

Taj Gibson and Luol Deng were great examples of this during Gar/Pax. Summer of 2012, we know Rose is toast from his injury, and there were lots of reports that both the Kings (#5) and Warriors (#8) were willing to deal their picks for Deng straight up. Gar/Pax balks. a year and a half later they trade him for cap relief, a fake 1st, and two 2nds they later wasted in the Mcdermott disaster. Taj had good value for his first 5-6 years here. They wait too long and then deal him for Cam Payne. I also feel like, despite being damaged goods, they could have gotten a better return for Derrick had they moved him a year or 2 sooner.

We're notorious for not striking while the iron is hot

In terms of dealing with their own assets, GarPax were pretty amazing generally speaking:

Wins
Eddy Curry: 2 1sts - Immediately worthless
James Johnson: 1st - Never worth this much again
Thabo Sefolosha: 1st - Never worth this much again
Tyrus Thomas: 1st - Never worth this much again
Nikola Mirotic: 1st - Never worth more than this (arguably held value)
Nocioni: Salmons (right before Noc became an albatross)

Neutral
Ben Gordon - Let him walk, became an albatross
Joakim Noah - Let him walk, became an albatross
Luol Deng - Traded in final year for minimal value, became an albatross
Doug McDermott - Moved him for low value but likely weren't ever going to do better
Tony Snell - Moved him for low value but likely weren't ever going to do better
Bobby Portis - Let him walk vs overpaying him
Marquis Teague - Nothing we ever could have done here
Denzel Valentine - Nothing we ever could have done here

Debatable
Jimmy Butler - Traded him for an All-star, a lottery pick, and a recent lottery pick, which is way more in return than anyone else ever got for Jimmy Butler, and you can argue about whether Butler would have been good to keep or not, but they definitely didn't get hosed on value relative to what Minny got a year later or Philly two years later.

Losses
Moving Tyson Chandler after a down year

That's like half the guys they traded at near peak value where the value immediately went down, a bunch of guys that were either busts right away or they got the on court value on and didn't sign to bad contracts (often right before some other team did). One definite miss and one eye of the beholder move (I'd say they did the right thing with Butler given the context, but I get why others think it was a huge miss).

[Dominator83]

Taj Gibson and Luol Deng were great examples of this during Gar/Pax. Summer of 2012, we know Rose is toast from his injury, and there were lots of reports that both the Kings (#5) and Warriors (#8) were willing to deal their picks for Deng straight up. Gar/Pax balks. a year and a half later they trade him for cap relief, a fake 1st, and two 2nds they later wasted in the Mcdermott disaster. Taj had good value for his first 5-6 years here. They wait too long and then deal him for Cam Payne. I also feel like, despite being damaged goods, they could have gotten a better return for Derrick had they moved him a year or 2 sooner.

We're notorious for not striking while the iron is hot

In terms of dealing with their own assets, GarPax were pretty amazing generally speaking:

Wins
Eddy Curry: 2 1sts - Immediately worthless
James Johnson: 1st - Never worth this much again
Thabo Sefolosha: 1st - Never worth this much again
Tyrus Thomas: 1st - Never worth this much again
Nikola Mirotic: 1st - Never worth more than this (arguably held value)
Nocioni: Salmons (right before Noc became an albatross)

Neutral
Ben Gordon - Let him walk, became an albatross
Joakim Noah - Let him walk, became an albatross
Luol Deng - Traded in final year for minimal value, became an albatross
Doug McDermott - Moved him for low value but likely weren't ever going to do better
Tony Snell - Moved him for low value but likely weren't ever going to do better
Bobby Portis - Let him walk vs overpaying him
Marquis Teague - Nothing we ever could have done here
Denzel Valentine - Nothing we ever could have done here

Debatable
Jimmy Butler - Traded him for an All-star, a lottery pick, and a recent lottery pick, which is way more in return than anyone else ever got for Jimmy Butler, and you can argue about whether Butler would have been good to keep or not, but they definitely didn't get hosed on value relative to what Minny got a year later or Philly two years later.

Losses
Moving Tyson Chandler after a down year

That's like half the guys they traded at near peak value where the value immediately went down, a bunch of guys that were either busts right away or they got the on court value on and didn't sign to bad contracts (often right before some other team did). One definite miss and one eye of the beholder move (I'd say they did the right thing with Butler given the context, but I get why others think it was a huge miss).

Good points here! Except Deng. Not moving him in 2012 when top 10 picks were on the table, only to then 18 months later trade him for table scraps was abysmal. But i'll give credit that early on in their tenure, along with better drafting, they were definitely better at knowing when to hold em and when to fold em. While AKME not only is terrible at moving guys when value is higher, they also don't admit mistakes and double-down on them (see Patrick, Vucevic). A good organization would just realize they effed up with Patrick and let him walk or take the QO. The warriors, who effed up two picks earlier in that same draft, just simply admitted it cut their losses and moved on. Detroit a few picks later admitted it with Killian and cut him. Can you imagine if those teams offered those guys $90 million in hopes of "motivating" them?

[dougthonus]

Good points here! Except Deng. Not moving him in 2012 when top 10 picks were on the table, only to then 18 months later trade him for table scraps was abysmal.

Agree, I just called it a neutral because they got on court value from him. They won a playoff series with him as a major piece after this point, so while they definitely didn't maximize trade value, they did get value out of him as a player after this point that was meaningful. I agree what you suggest would have been better though.

While AKME not only is terrible at moving guys when value is higher, they also don't admit mistakes and double-down on them (see Patrick, Vucevic). A good organization would just realize they effed up with Patrick and let him walk or take the QO. The warriors, who effed up two picks earlier in that same draft, just simply admitted it cut their losses and moved on. Detroit a few picks later admitted it with Killian and cut him. Can you imagine if those teams offered those guys $90 million in hopes of "motivating" them?

Agreed, though to give them the smallest amount of credit, they've been better in the last year.

[DASMACKDOWN]

So if we cant trade Vooch, I wonder how Billy will play him this year.

Will he drop his minutes? He played 31 mins last year. I think he should be dropped to 28 or less.

If the goal is to try and move Vooch, I think having him less minutes will actually help the cause. I think he will be more efficient and look better in a lesser role.

I think Vooch would look really good as someone's backup. Think Steven Adams or Jonas Valančiūnas. They were career starters then ended up on new teams as their backup big. That will be Vooch.

[rosenthall]

Just gonna repose what I said in the game thread:


Respectfully, common sense left the discussion about Vuc a while ago.

If I were running things, I wouldn't have given up as they did to get him and I would have re-traded him and definitely not resigned him.

But he is on the team and they're trying to win games, so yeah.

It's a mistake for people to let their dislike of the team's direction and goals to seep into their understanding of reality. But that's what fans do.

In this case that means:

1. Vuc is not a great player, but he's probably still a slightly better player than Collins overall, and he's earned the right to start until he's clearly outplayed. Which nobody has done. Leave off the hyperbole, and he's got his uses. It's also just not true that he doesn't play the style the team wants to play. What they want to play isn't just "run", it's also "pass", and "feed transition" and "space the floor". I can't believe I have to defend this guy who I very much don't like, but the Bulls will miss his shooting, his ability to get a rebound and throw a good pass to start the play, his ability to move the ball pretty quickly, and Giddey will miss having a competent big to throw it to, because he generated more assists throwing to Vuc than to anyone else.

All that doesn't mean he's great or even that I want him on the team, but if you are a team trying to win games, which the Bulls definitely are, cutting Vuc to add Kai Jones isn't even in the universe of what they're considering.

2. If you want to look at the small sample size of the post all-star break last season and say Collins is great, well, the Bulls still had a higher Net +/- per 100 possessions with Vuc than they did with Collins over the same period.

3. Collins needs to demonstrate he can shoot somewhat competently and not be a TO and Foul machine. He's a better defender than Vuc, but people just don't want to hear, regardless of the evidence, that Vuc's defense, while below average, isn't WORST IN TEH LEAGUE LOLZ. There are plenty of guys that are worse, and for the regular season, it just doesn't matter too much.

4. Smith is a quintessential tease, especially if you watch superficially. You watch a game thread and people are acting like he's the second coming and going into histrionics a bout why he isn't playing and then you look and you see a sub 30% three point shooter who's chasing blocks and rebounds and pretty consistently out of position to do the right thing on defense. Maybe in a couple more years he'll be passable, but it's not as if Donovan is the only coach that's decided he's a bit player.

The right move for the Bulls is to play Vuc, and if the best we can do is get a couple seconds at the deadline, then trade him for that. I'd also be looking at getting pick(s) by trading him for longer salary because the Bulls don't have much to work with in free agency anyway.

That is the single most obvious point, I think. The best move they have in the long-run here is to collect a pick by getting some team out of the tax. Vuc by being a $20M expiring contract, is there best means to do that.

If they just cut him, they absolutely are shooting themselves in the foot, because they no longer have the opportunity to do this. It'd be, pardon my French, **** stupid.

I mostly agree with this, but would add two additional points, one in favor of, and one against your main observation that Vuc kinda stinks but it's still in the team's best interest to play him.

1). Vuc's on-court value heavily fluctuates with his shooting, so the comparison between him and Collins is heavily influenced by his shooting splits. Vuc last year is slightly better than Collins, but Vuc the year before that isn't IMO.

2). I think the most underrated part about Vuc's game is his durability. I haven't looked closely at it, but I doubt there are more than a few centers who have been able to play the amount of minutes he has at the C position over the last 10 years. Jokic stands out as an exception, but other than him most of the high minute centers struggle to play more than 65 games a year consistently. Including Collins.

If two guys are close in ability, I'd rather give the more anchored position to the one who's proven to be more durable so everyone else on the team can have a more consistent playing environment.

Given the above points, I'd probably play Vuc and Collins like we played Boozer / Taj at the end of Boozer's stay here. Let him start the games, and on the nights when he has it going keep him in, but if he's flat let Collins consume his minutes. And if the scales continue to tilt in favor of Collins, just shorten the time Vuc plays at the beginning of the 1st and 3rd quarters.

[Evil_Headband]

Just think, in a few short months our long national nightmare will be over and we won't have to talk about Vuc's effect on the team any more (although we probably will). It's hard to imagine.

I kind of feel bad for him in a way. It's not really his fault most of the time that he isn't better. It must be soul-sapping to be a rich and successful pro athlete by most metrics, and to work reasonably hard (I think?), and to want to win, but to spend a good part of your career in a city who dislikes your musk and can't get to the actual playoffs reliably.

I keep thinking about next year. There isn't a high quality center on the roster, there doesn't appear to be realistic free agent option, and the draft appears to be light at center (regardless, a draft pick would likely be raw). I don't think it's inconceivable that they bring him back if, in their eyes, they don't see someone better.

[Red Larrivee]

So if we cant trade Vooch, I wonder how Billy will play him this year.

Will he drop his minutes? He played 31 mins last year. I think he should be dropped to 28 or less.

If the goal is to try and move Vooch, I think having him less minutes will actually help the cause. I think he will be more efficient and look better in a lesser role.

I think Vooch would look really good as someone's backup. Think Steven Adams or Jonas Valančiūnas. They were career starters then ended up on new teams as their backup big. That will be Vooch.

I really hope they're not still hoping for a trade. He just had the most efficient offensive season of his career AND he's an expiring contract. Yet, nobody wants him.

His value literally can't get better. It's time to end it.

[jnrjr79]

So if we cant trade Vooch, I wonder how Billy will play him this year.

Will he drop his minutes? He played 31 mins last year. I think he should be dropped to 28 or less.

If the goal is to try and move Vooch, I think having him less minutes will actually help the cause. I think he will be more efficient and look better in a lesser role.

I think Vooch would look really good as someone's backup. Think Steven Adams or Jonas Valančiūnas. They were career starters then ended up on new teams as their backup big. That will be Vooch.

I really hope they're not still hoping for a trade. He just had the most efficient offensive season of his career AND he's an expiring contract. Yet, nobody wants him.

His value literally can't get better. It's time to end it.

I understand this point of view, but there's probably a 0% chance they would simply waive a $20M expiring salary that could be theoretically be used in a deal before the deadline. If he's bought out, it'll only be after the deadline has passed, IMO. Though Vooch may be tough to move on his own, a responsible GM probably needs to keep him around to see if any other teams suffer an injury at C and to see if he could be part of some larger deal. For instance, though I think it's incredibly unlikely the Bulls would trade for Giannis, you'd want Vooch's salary around to throw into that deal if you were going to try to get in on the bidding.

From an on-court perspective, I'd much rather see Collins and Smith taking those minutes, but I have no real belief we will.

[DASMACKDOWN]

I really hope they're not still hoping for a trade. He just had the most efficient offensive season of his career AND he's an expiring contract. Yet, nobody wants him.

His value literally can't get better. It's time to end it.

I feel you on that. If anything its probably going to need Vooch to actually say something. Because BIlly is always defending Vooch and AKME is going to struggle with the notion of "we need Vooch" when it comes to play in push.

The only thing that would speed this up would be if Vooch is absolutely terrible or the team is absolutely terrible record wise before the trade deadline. Then waiving him wont get in the way of any feelings.

[HomoSapien]

Vuc has looked old, slow, and bad so far. It may just be him being a disinterested vet, but he seems to rotate between good and bad seasons each year. This year we are due for a bad year.

[HomoSapien]

So if we cant trade Vooch, I wonder how Billy will play him this year.

Will he drop his minutes? He played 31 mins last year. I think he should be dropped to 28 or less.

If the goal is to try and move Vooch, I think having him less minutes will actually help the cause. I think he will be more efficient and look better in a lesser role.

I think Vooch would look really good as someone's backup. Think Steven Adams or Jonas Valančiūnas. They were career starters then ended up on new teams as their backup big. That will be Vooch.

I really hope they're not still hoping for a trade. He just had the most efficient offensive season of his career AND he's an expiring contract. Yet, nobody wants him.

His value literally can't get better. It's time to end it.

I suspect Kuminga is a name that will be revisited at the Deadline.

[kodo]

Though Vooch may be tough to move on his own, a responsible GM probably needs to keep him around to see if any other teams suffer an injury at C and to see if he could be part of some larger deal.

Ironically, Sacramento could use a backup C. When Sabonis gets hurt, I believe the Cs will be Eubanks and 2nd rounder Maxime Raynaud.
Derozan, Lavine, Vuc reunion tour, make it happen.

[drosestruts]

The Celtics center depth is:

1. Neemias Queta
2. Xavier Tillman
3. Luka Garza

and they remain over the 1st apron


The Pacers have

1. Isaiah Jackson
2. Jay Huff
3. James Wiseman

The Hornets have:

1. Ryan Kalkbrenner
2. Mason Plumlee


There's some bad center depth charts out there.

Even with that I'm not sure a trade for Vuc makes sense for any of these teams

[Indomitable]

The Celtics center depth is:

1. Neemias Queta
2. Xavier Tillman
3. Luka Garza

and they remain over the 1st apron


The Pacers have

1. Isaiah Jackson
2. Jay Huff
3. James Wiseman

The Hornets have:

1. Ryan Kalkbrenner
2. Mason Plumlee


There's some bad center depth charts out there.

Even with that I'm not sure a trade for Vuc makes sense for any of these teams

Why would anyone of these teams trade for Vuc?

[GoBlue72391]

I'm perfectly fine with just waiving him. We're going to pay him either way, might as well get rid of him and play the guys who will actually help us on the court.

Then he can sign with a contender for the minimum or whatever. Sounds like a win-win to me.

A trade is beyond a pipe dream at this point.

[Ben Wilson25]

It won’t make you feel better about Vuc the player but this may make you feel more warmly towards Vuc the person. A lot of fluff but some feel good stories about his relationship with his dad and sons.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/16/chicago-bulls-nikola-vucevic-not-slowing-down/

[Red Larrivee]

So if we cant trade Vooch, I wonder how Billy will play him this year.

Will he drop his minutes? He played 31 mins last year. I think he should be dropped to 28 or less.

If the goal is to try and move Vooch, I think having him less minutes will actually help the cause. I think he will be more efficient and look better in a lesser role.

I think Vooch would look really good as someone's backup. Think Steven Adams or Jonas Valančiūnas. They were career starters then ended up on new teams as their backup big. That will be Vooch.

I really hope they're not still hoping for a trade. He just had the most efficient offensive season of his career AND he's an expiring contract. Yet, nobody wants him.

His value literally can't get better. It's time to end it.

I suspect Kuminga is a name that will be revisited at the Deadline.

With the way Buzelis is playing? I hope the hell not.

[Evil_Headband]

I'm perfectly fine with just waiving him. We're going to pay him either way, might as well get rid of him and play the guys who will actually help us on the court.

Then he can sign with a contender for the minimum or whatever. Sounds like a win-win to me.

A trade is beyond a pipe dream at this point.

Using his expiring contract in a trade is not a pipe dream.

[Pokuokic]

Imagine that you don't surround Vuc with low iq chuckers who can't defend and add high IQ /energetic players who move the ball and he's had the best start to a season in his like 15 or whatever year career

[sco]

It is ALMOST a shame we are off to such a good start with him. I can see AK now wanting to resign him. There has to be a team that would benefit from him.