The Chicago Bulls haven’t found much success as of late, and some thought it was time for a long-overdue rebuild.
Instead, it seems like Arturas Karnisovas has other plans in mind, as he might look to run it back with his current core of players.
According to NBA insider Joe Cowley, via NBACentral, the Bulls are looking to sign free-agent big man Nikola Vucevic to a three-year contract extension.
The Bulls are looking to lock up Nikola Vucevic for the next three years, per @JCowleyHoops pic.twitter.com/iTyXzniRHm
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) June 5, 2023
This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering they gave up a lot of assets to get him in the first place, so it’s obvious that the front office still has faith in him and won’t risk him walking away and losing him for nothing.
Likewise, it’s highly unlikely that any other team will be interested in signing him to a lucrative long-term deal at this age and after the questionable play he’s shown since arriving in Chicago.
The early returns of the Vucevic experiment in the Windy City were encouraging, but he regressed vastly last season, and he might not be what the Bulls need on the floor right now.
There’s no denying that Vucevic can be a dominant rebounder on both ends of the floor, and he does have a sweet touch around the rim, but he’s a major liability on defense.
The Bulls need to retool drastically this summer, especially considering some fear Lonzo Ball might not be ready to play in 2023 — or ever again.
But if this roster fails to get it done next season again, they should strongly consider pulling the plug and hitting the drawing board again.
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