Speaking to Lukas Katilius of BasketNews.com ahead of Montenegro’s 27-point loss to Lithuania at EuroBasket 2025, a game in which he recorded 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block, Bulls center Nikola Vucevic said he has a strong relationship with head of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas.
Vucevic has been the subject of trade rumors for several months, including speculation in late July about a potential mid-season buyout if Chicago is unable to eventually find a deal it likes.
“It has been very good. We have good communication,” Vucevic said of his relationship with Karnisovas. “He has always been pretty open with me. Even just a couple of weeks ago, when the buyout news came out, he actually texted me to tell me not to worry about it and not to read into it.
“I have known AK for a long time. When I did my pre-draft workout, he was with Houston and took me out to dinner for an interview. So I have known him for a very long time.”
Vucevic, who turns 35 years old in October, is on an expiring $21.48MM contract. He defended Karnisovas’ tenure, saying he liked a lot of the moves the front office has made over the years, but noted the previous iteration of the team battled injuries (Lonzo Ball, among others) and the Bulls weren’t sure how to pivot until they decided to turn to “slightly younger players.”
Vucevic said earlier this month he has “almost no doubt” that he’ll open the season with the Bulls and told BasketNews he was very open to staying in Chicago, though he acknowledged that wasn’t necessarily in his control.
“Yes, of course. I mean, it has been good for me there,” Vucevic said. “We will see—I have one more year left with them, so we will see what happens if I stay or if something changes. But yeah, obviously, I would love to win in Chicago.”
While he isn’t the most nimble defender or a great rim protector, Vucevic’s per-game production has been quite consistent over his Bulls tenure and he has also been durable. The two-time All-Star had one of his most efficient offensive seasons in 2024/25, averaging 18.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game with a shooting line of .530/.402/.805 in 73 regular season appearances (31.2 MPG).