Bulls, Vucevic reach three-year, $60M extension
Chicago Bulls and center Nikola Vucevic have agreed to a contract extension, the team announced Wednesday.
Terms were not disclosed, but Vucevic’s agents, Bill Duffy and Rade Filipovich, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the deal is for three years and $60 million.
Vucevic, who will turn 33 near the start of next season, played all 82 games and averaged 17.6 points for the Bulls last season.
Vucevic’s scoring and rebounding averages were identical in his two full seasons in Chicago — 17.6 points and 11.0 rebounds — but following a down shooting year in 2021-22, he became more comfortable sharing the floor with DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine. He shot 52% from the field, including 59.4% on 2-pointers in 2022-23 and was one of two Bulls players (Patrick Williams) to play all 82 games.
Vucevic’s production and availability for every game this season was a major reason why Bulls vice president Arturas Karnisovas called him a huge part of the team at the end of the year, when he signaled that he planned to bring Vucevic back to Chicago.
The Bulls acquired the two-time All-Star from the Orlando Magic at the 2021 trade deadline, one of the first major roster moves by Karnisovas after taking control of the front office.
However, Chicago just finished paying off the price of that trade, sending a pair of first-round picks to Orlando in 2021 that became Franz Wagner and Jett Howard, the No. 11 pick in the 2023 draft.
ESPN’s Jamal Collier contributed to this report.
