There is one team previously linked to Nikola Vucevic that could still exist as a trade partner: the Golden State Warriors.
Nikola Vucevic has been in trade rumors essentially every trade deadline, but especially since the Chicago Bulls pulled the plug on the Alex Caruso-DeMar DeRozan-Lonzo Ball-Zach LaVine iteration of the team. There has also been talk of Vucevic's game eventually falling off of an age-related cliff at some point, and yet, that hasn't happened either. The 35-year old Vucevic is averaging 17.0 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists while shooting 37.8% from 3-point range.
The same issues persist with Vucevic, as he is an effective big man on offense who hamstrings your defense to a large degree when he is on the floor. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Bulls defense has been 4.0 points worse with Vucevic on the floor over 1,229 minutes of the 2025-26 season. If any team was to try to add Vucevic and his expiring contract at the trade deadline, they conceivably would have to have a solid defensive unit that could survive stretches with Vucevic.
The bigger issue is that I simply don't believe that many teams exist that would be interested in trying to acquire Vucevic now, and would rather simply try to sign him in the offseason vs. giving up assets. But I feel there is one previously linked team that still could exist as a trade partner: the Golden State Warriors.
Golden State has bigger fish to fry with the Jonathan Kuminga situation. Most Bulls fans would assume any mock trade with Vucevic-to-the-Warriors involve Kuminga, but I believe the Warriors still believe they could get better value for him even with the the relationship being publicly fractured. If the Bulls think they Vucevic relationship is coming to an end, I believe based off of their prior moves, it is conceivable that they take a deal that gives them rotation players that they feel could aid in a Play-In push.
MOCK TRADE:
This trade would likely do little to excite either fanbase, but it does help both teams. Vucevic is still a great stretch big, knocking down 37.8% of his 4.7 attempts per game from 3-point range this season.
Offensively, a Steph Curry-Vucevic pick-and-pop would garner a ton of attention from opposing defenses, opening up the floor tremendously. Defensively, it's always going to be a bit of a struggle with Vucevic, but he knows where to be on defense, and just can't always do enough physically to deter shots at the rim. The presence of Draymond Green, and even a role player like Gary Payton II, would help ease any defensive pressure on the Montenegrin big man.
From the Chicago side of things, if they know Vucevic isn't 100% coming back, they can extract some value from his deal albeit at the very last possible second. Waiting this long to move Vucevic, of course, means that the offers aren't going to be inspiring no matter how well the 35-year old center plays. All of the players they are receiving in this hypothetical deal are floor spacers, something Chicago could always use more of.
Moses Moody is legitimately an important role player for the Warriors, but he is the best asset they could give up while holding on to Kuminga for another trade. Moody is 23 years old, shooting 38.5% from 3-point range, fifth on the Warriors in scoring at 10.6 PPG in a season where he is acting as their sixth man. Quinten Post is a 25-year old stretch big with some intrigue, but is in the midst of a rough shooting season at 33.5% from 3-point range. If Post is the eighth man, then it is fair to say Buddy Hield is essentially out of the rotation. Hield is at a career-low 16.7 minutes per game, and shooting quite easily the worst 3-point percentage of his career at 32.4%.
This trade sees the Warriors giving up two players essentially not in their rotation, and one guard with solid potential, for at least a half season of Vucevic. It may sound crazy on paper, but Vucevic's 17 PPG would be third on Golden State, and his 9.1 RPG would lead the team. With the Warriors trying to move up from the 8th spot in a loaded Western Conference, and the Bulls likely trying to find value for expiring contracts, a deal sending a still-productive Vucevic to Golden State could workout to be a win-win.