On Friday of last week, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Charlotte Hornets 129-126 to snap their seven-game losing streak. Although it required a fourth-quarter comeback and holding off a late attempt by Charlotte to steal the game back, the Bulls were able to bring the abysmal skid to an end. In that contest, Nikola Vucevic watched the final 17 minutes of action from the sideline. He has always been one of the highest-volume players for Chicago since his arrival and has consistently been in the closing lineup. Opting to bench him for the final five minutes of the third quarter and the entire fourth quarter in favor of Jalen Smith and Zach Collins ultimately won the game for head coach Billy Donovan. Collins ended with a team-best +17 plus/minus and led the charge defensively down the stretch. Many wondered how the disgruntled 35-year-old center would respond, and last night he finally let it be known.
Played Lights Out Down The Stretch
As many Chicago reporters have noted during Vucevic's time with the Bulls, he's the ultimate professional, an exceptional teammate, and his own harshest critic. Although his intentions were correct in scolding his teammates postgame after they narrowly defeated the worst team in the NBA, the Washington Wizards, several weeks ago, many think it had a cascading effect on the team's chemistry and locker room cohesion. Last night's performance was the perfect response to the surprising and abrupt late-game benching just a few nights prior.
Donovan pulled Smith back and is letting Vucevic cook https://t.co/21NY2TaWoh
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 18, 2025
The veteran center posted 20 points, nine rebounds, and four assists in 29 minutes of action. In the fourth quarter, he had 13 points and five rebounds in 10 minutes of play and was the most stable option offensively for Chicago in crunch time.
There Will Be A Center Rotation Moving Forward
Despite Vucevic's stellar play as the game progressed, to the point of Donovan reverting his substitution to keep him in the game, there will still be a fluid rotation moving forward. As seen with the drastic contrasting minutes between Smith, Collins, and Vucevic over the last week, the hot hand is constantly gaining more minutes and is granted more opportunities. Donovan is also becoming aware that Vucevic is a complete liability defensively, and having Smith or Collins on the floor significantly raises the level of defensive competitiveness. Barring another unstoppable offensive performance in the fourth quarter from the 35-year-old, expect to see more of the younger two options as the season continues.
Billy Donovan said he’d like to use this new big-man rotation moving forward. Zach Collins replaced Nikola Vucevic earlier than usual in 1st and 3rd and then Collins paired with Jalen Smith for stretches. Said with fuller roster, there will be element of sacrifice for minutes
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 18, 2025
Without reading too much into slowly phasing Vucevic out of the premier spots in the rotation, could this be an early sign that he's going to be traded in the coming months? With an expiring contract and contributing less each week to the Chicago Bulls, it would not be surprising to see him shipped elsewhere for any draft capital or young assets.
