Will Chicago really re-sign Nikola Vucevic or trade him?

The Chicago Bulls are currently 10th in the Eastern Conference, and as a result, could be big sellers as the NBA trade deadline approaches. Is it sales team on Nikola Vučevićhowever, a big question remains.

According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPointsthe team isn’t particularly eager to ship the 35-year-old big man despite the return they could get for him.

“Chicago has some options before the trade deadline because of their expiring money,” Siegel wrote. “Speaking of which, Nikola Vucevic, who has a $21.4 million contract expiring, is a player valued by Billy Donovan and the organization. It wouldn’t be surprising if they held on to Vucic and looked to extend the veteran to a smaller, team contract in free agency.”

This season, Vucevic is averaging 16.5 points and 9.3 rebounds in 30.5 minutes per game. Those marks are Vucevic’s lowest since at least the 2017-18 season, but he’s still the Bulls’ third-leading scorer (behind Josh Giddy and Kobe White) and the team’s best jumper. Additionally, he is shooting 50.2% from the field and 38.6% on 4.8 3-pointers per game.

Vucevic’s ability to stretch the floor was and still is one of the most attractive parts of his game; at 6-foot-9 and 260 pounds, he’s a career 35.1% 3-point shooter, with occasional years (2020-21 and 2024-25) shooting 40-plus percent from beyond the arc.

Since being acquired by Chicago during the 2020-21 season, Vucevic has been asked to be less offensive. A 25-point-per-game scorer in his final half-season with the Orlando Magic, Vucevic averaged no more than 18.5 points per game throughout his season with the Bulls. Instead, he took a backseat to Giddy, White, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.

Although it would it makes a lot of sense to trade Vucevic before the Feb. 5 deadline, the Bulls have been hesitant for years to extract value from expiring contracts or aging players. In the case of Vucevic, he is both, given that he will turn 36 in October and will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. He previously signed a three-year, $60 million deal with the Bulls in 2023 after the four-year, $100 million contract he signed with the Magic expired.