CHICAGO — The Nikola Vučević trade conversation has become an annual ritual in Chicago. It heats up at the start of the season, cools off near the deadline, then quietly resets for the following year. But this season feels different. More urgent. More dangerous. And if the Bulls hesitate again, they risk losing what little leverage they still have.
For the second straight season, Vučević followed a familiar arc: a strong opening stretch that briefly reignited optimism, followed by a steady and undeniable decline. At 35 years old, the center no longer offers the consistency that once made him an attractive trade chip — and every passing week makes the situation harder to salvage.
Last season told the story clearly. In December, Vučević averaged 20.0 points and 10.0 rebounds while shooting an elite 42.3 percent from three-point range. By January, that number dipped to 18.4 points, and his three-point shooting collapsed to 26.8 percent. February was even worse, cementing concerns that his early-season production was not sustainable.
This year, the drop-off came faster.
Vučević opened the season averaging 19.8 points and 12.0 rebounds in October while shooting a staggering 50 percent from beyond the arc. By November, his scoring fell to 15.2 points per game, with his three-point percentage sliding to 36.2 percent. Now, halfway through December, he’s averaging just 13.2 points while hitting only 31.6 percent of his threes.
That trend is not just alarming — it’s damaging.
The issue isn’t that Vučević’s decline alone is sinking the Bulls. It’s that his diminishing production is erasing any realistic chance of extracting meaningful trade value. A 20-point, double-double center who spaces the floor is an asset contenders will pay for. A declining, defensively limited big man shooting near 30 percent from deep is not.
When age, porous defense, and shrinking offensive impact collide, the trade market dries up quickly.
Chicago’s front office must understand this reality. Every game Vučević plays at his current level makes it harder to sell the idea that he’s a difference-maker for a playoff team. And once that perception is gone, so is the leverage.
Perhaps head coach Billy Donovan already sees the writing on the wall. His increasing reliance on Zach Collins and Jalen Smith — including benching Vučević for the final 19 minutes of a road win over the Charlotte Hornets — felt less like a matchup decision and more like a preview of what’s coming.
But the Bulls now face a dangerous balancing act.
They can’t sit Vučević entirely without killing his trade value outright. Yet keeping him in the lineup risks further exposing his weaknesses. Chicago has struggled with him on the floor, as reflected in his minus-6.9 net rating, and opposing teams continue to target him defensively in ways that cannot be hidden.
Still, benching him signals surrender on the trade front — a white flag that tells the league the Bulls are stuck.
That leaves only one real option: act now.
As of December 15, most of the NBA becomes trade-eligible, opening the door for meaningful conversations that simply weren’t possible weeks ago. Contracts can be aggregated. Rotations can be reshaped. Contenders begin looking for depth, size, and experience ahead of the playoff push.
That window won’t stay open long.
The Bulls don’t need to “win” a Vučević trade anymore. That opportunity likely passed last season. What they need now is to avoid losing completely. Even a return centered around second-round picks, expiring contracts, or modest young pieces would be preferable to watching Vučević’s value sink further while Chicago remains stuck in mediocrity.
Holding on in hopes of a late-season resurgence would be a gamble rooted more in nostalgia than logic.
This is not an indictment of Vučević’s career. He’s been professional, durable, and productive across multiple eras of Bulls basketball. But the timeline no longer aligns. Chicago is rebuilding in everything but name, and Vučević’s presence only delays decisions that need to be made.
The trade discourse may feel endless, but the clock is no longer forgiving.
If the Bulls want to extract any value — any at all — the move has to happen soon. Otherwise, the Nikola Vučević era won’t end with a calculated decision, but with silence… and regret.
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