The Chicago Bulls finally snapped their seven-game losing streak Friday night, but the most shocking development had nothing to do with the final score. Nikola Vučević, the team’s veteran anchor and longest-tenured star, was nowhere to be found when the game was decided. Instead, he watched from the bench as Chicago clawed its way to a desperately needed win—an image that would have seemed unthinkable just weeks ago.
Vučević logged only 22 minutes, his second-lowest total of the season, and did not see the floor after the 4:58 mark of the third quarter. Head coach Billy Donovan made the bold call to sit the 15-year veteran down the stretch, rolling instead with Zach Collins and Jalen Smith. The gamble worked. Collins delivered in crunch time with a clutch mid-range jumper and a critical assist off an offensive rebound, while Smith provided energy and stability that had been missing during the Bulls’ recent freefall.
Without that frontcourt aggressiveness, Chicago likely boards the plane home with yet another loss—and everyone in the locker room knows it. Vučević knows it too.
After the game, the veteran center struck a calm, almost statesmanlike tone when addressing the benching. “Obviously, you want to be out there as a competitor,” Vučević said. “But Zach and Styx were playing great… Billy made the call to stick with them. And obviously it was the right call. We won the game.”
Those words matter. It’s not often a player of Vučević’s stature publicly endorses a decision that sidelines him in a must-win situation. But the numbers—and the eye test—backed Donovan up. With Collins and Smith sharing the floor, the Bulls closed the third quarter on a 17–7 run, turning a slipping game into a one-possession contest. The duo scored 11 of those 17 points and then dominated the glass in the fourth quarter, out-rebounding Charlotte 14–5 over the final 12 minutes.
Collins finished the second half with 12 points, seven rebounds, and a team-best +15. Smith added five points, six rebounds, and a +11. Vučević? A team-worst -15, paired with visible frustration and continued defensive lapses that have quietly plagued Chicago all season.
One moment, in particular, felt like a turning point. Midway through the second quarter, Vučević inbounded the ball directly to Charlotte’s KJ Simpson, then failed to contest the rebound as the six-foot guard tipped in his own miss. Billy Donovan called an immediate timeout. Vučević punched the bench. The message was loud—even if the benching didn’t come until later.
So what happens next?
This doesn’t feel like the end of Vučević as a starter. His professionalism after the game, combined with his résumé, likely earns him another chance. But the warning signs are impossible to ignore. Vučević has now posted back-to-back single-digit scoring games for the first time since 2023 and endured his worst three-game rebounding stretch since 2016. Scoring and rebounding are why he plays 30-plus minutes a night—when both disappear, tough decisions follow.
There’s also a bigger picture looming. Vučević is 35, approaching unrestricted free agency, and potentially eyeing one last run with a contender. This recent stretch is doing him no favors. If Chicago leans more heavily into Collins and Smith, his minutes—and his trade value—could shrink quickly.
Friday night may go down as a turning point. The Bulls won without their cornerstone on the floor. The question now isn’t whether Billy Donovan can bench Nikola Vučević—it’s whether he might have to do it again.
“The most important thing is that we ended our losing streak,” he emphasized. “But this is also a reminder for me — no place is guaranteed. I have to play better, have more impact, and prove that I deserve to be on the pitch.”
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