It appears two-time All-Star Bulls center Nikola Vucevic has recovered from a concerning recent dip in production.
Prior to this past week’s two surprising home-and-home wins against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Vucevic averaged just 11.6 points on a .387/.304/.600 slash line, plus 6.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 0.6 steals per. Chicago head coach Billy Donovan responded to his dismal output and disinterested defense with a quicker hook than usual; Vucevic wound up averaging a modest-for-him 27.2 minutes a night during that stretch.
During the Bulls’ two double-digit wins over the Cavaliers, however, Vucevic averaged 22.0 points on .588/.400/.647 shooting splits, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks across 30.5 minutes.
Despite the 152-150 final score, Vucevic fell back down to earth against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, scoring just 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor (1-of-6 from long range) and 2-of-2 from the foul line, plus six assists, five rebounds, and three steals.
By now, Bulls fans are fairly familiar with Vucevic’s shtick. If he’s not getting enough touches in or around the post, or Chicago is getting blown out, he’ll check out a bit defensively. He’s not a particularly great defender anyway, but when the 35-year-old is dialed in, he’ll at least contest shots.
A new report from Evan Sidery of Forbes suggests that the Bulls are once again open to moving on from Vucevic, who’s on an expiring contract with a $21.5 million salary this season.
The Bulls would have interest in swapping Nikola Vucevic for Jonathan Kuminga.The Warriors showed significant interest in Vucevic last season, but did not want to pay Chicago’s asking price.With Chicago struggling after a hot start, they’re open again to listening on Vucevic. pic.twitter.com/RSSIm9LEjq
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) December 19, 2025Marc Stein also reported on this possibility earlier this month. From a contract perspective, this would align pretty nicely. Kuminga inked a two-year, $46.8 million deal in restricted free agency with Golden State over the summer, and has a $24.3 million team option for 2026-27.
© Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn ImagesSize Matters in Golden State
The Warriors still badly need legitimate, reliable size at center — with apologies to a decrepit Al Horford, who has been aging in dog years since he ditched the Boston Celtics. Even before Golden State brought in Horford for some (hypothetical, if thus-far-unrealized) floor spacing, the team had been linked to a Vucevic trade to help out in the same way in the build-up to last year’s trade deadline.
At the time, Kuminga was still on his rookie-scale deal, so pieces like Gary Payton II, Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson, and Kevon Looney were floated as possible Warriors trade fits. Jimmy Butler also had yet to arrive in The Bay.
Butler’s arrival totally transformed Golden State during the 2024-25 season’s home stretch, from a likely play-in tournament loser to a frisky playoff club that snuck into the second round as a No. 7 seed. This may be my Jimmy Butler bias showing, but had he not been playing through a glute injury and, had Stephen Curry not missed the last four games of the team’s second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves with an injury of his own, I think the Warriors had a legitimate shot to make the Western Conference Finals that season.
But another ex-Bulls wing, Mike Dunleavy Jr., seemed to be banking on the club’s small-ball ethos enduring for yet another season. Beyond hoping for growth from second-year big Quinten Post and for a 39-year-old Horford to help stabilize bench units, Dunleavy did little to shore up his frontcourt.
Vucevic doesn’t help much defensively, as we’ve established, but he would give the Warriors a real shot at five-out lineups around Stephen Curry. Vucevic has been making 37.1 percent of his 4.9 triple tries a night this year. He’s also a great passer for his position (he’s averaging 3.5 dimes per this year) and a solid rebounder.
Would it behoove the Warriors to bring in a rim runner who can actually guard athletic bigs instead of Vucevic? Of course, but don’t tell them that. According to Chris Haynes of Prime Video, the Warriors have been targeting Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton, Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford, and Portland Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III. Williams, who has appeared in just 79 of a possible 274 games since 2022-23, has been such an injury risk that he would be likely the cheapest player to acquire in terms of draft picks.
© Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn ImagesThe Kuminga Fit in Chicago
From the Bulls’ perspective, bringing in Kuminga would clearly signify a play for the future. Zach Collins or Jalen Smith would be elevated to a starting role in the absence of Vucevic, which would likely improve Chicago’s frontcourt defense but hurt it on the other end.
Kuminga is a bit of a head-scratcher. The 6-foot-7 power forward, 23, has been in and out of Warriors head coach Steve Kerr’s lineups this year amid injury issues and inconsistent play. He’s averaging just 11.8 points on .431/.320/.741 shooting splits, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists. In theory, he’s the exact sort of athletic, downhill, scoring forward who should be able to help the Bulls bolster their offense at that position, but he’s a bit of a ball-hog who has rubbed his teammates the wrong way.
Kuminga could play either forward role next to Matas Buzelis in Billy Donovan’s starting five as a possible Isaac Okoro replacement, or could add some scoring punch off the bench.
The Warriors might be getting a bit desperate to turn around a dismal 13-15 season start, however, so if Chicago’s front office can somehow extract some draft equity, Kuminga may be worth a flier. If it doesn’t work out, the Bulls can simply decline his option for next season and let him hit unrestricted free agency.
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