The Chicago Bulls will have a myriad of tough choices to make this summer, but the biggest of the bunch is Nikola Vucevic’s free agency. The 23-year-old big man will be an unrestricted free agent this summer if he and the Bulls do not agree on a contract extension by the end of this month.
But Chicago needs to ask themselves, is Vucevic worth the investment? He’s a fine player, but how much should they be paying the third-best player on a team that could struggle to compete for the playoffs if not composed well enough? And could they flip him if things don’t work out? Will Gottlieb of CHGO thinks they cannot prepare for the latter.
According to Gottlieb, if the Bulls decide to re-sign Vucevic this offseason, they need to be willing to keep him on the roster throughout the duration of the deal.
“In other words, if the Bulls bring him back, they must be prepared to keep him for the entirety of whatever contract he signs,” Gottlieb wrote.
Gottlieb also posed an important question–is Vucevic worth more on a short-term deal worth more money, or a long-term deal worth less annually?
“There is a common thought that the Bulls can sign him to a tradeable, team-friendly deal they could flip down the line,” Gottlieb wrote. “Even if they get him to a lower dollar amount, that doesn’t necessarily make him more valuable as a trade chip.
“Is a 32-year-old Vucevic on an expiring, $22M deal more or less valuable than a 33 or 34 or 35-year-old Vucevic on an $18M deal with two or three years left on his contract?”
Deciding what to do with Vucevic could be the most important decision the Bulls make this summer, both in regard to their short-term and long-term future.
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Story originally appeared on Lonzo Wire