Next goal? The Lakers get Vucevic, what is the feasibility?

Report from ClutchPoints Lakers reporter Irwin, the Lakers are closely monitoring the situation of Bulls center Vucevic, just like they did to Smart and Ayton before. If Vucevic is bought out, the Lakers will strive to win him.

It should be said that this is not the first time Vucevic has had an affair with the Lakers. At the end of January, reporter Brett Siegel also reported that the Lakers have a high interest in Vucevic and regard him as one of the targets before the transaction deadline.

First of all, I have to praise the Lakers' performance in the buyout market is indeed excellent. As for this offseason, Ayton (the original contract has 1 year and 35.55 million left) and Smart (the original contract has 2 year and 2 year and 11 million left) successively reached buyouts, and then joined the Lakers for 16.2 million in 2 years and 11 million in 2 years.

combined with the performance of the Lakers in the past, such as Dinwiddie's buyout in 2024, Drummond's buyout in 2021, and Morris's buyout in 2020, it is not an exaggeration to call Pelinka the God of Buyout - of course, as far as this summer is concerned, the joining of Ayton and Smart is also thanks to Doncic's personal recruitment.

Just this time, Vucevic? It's really impossible.

Like before Ayton and Smart buyouts, Vucevic will enter the contract year next season, with an annual salary of 21.48 million, not even higher than Ayton, but his performance is definitely comparable to Ayton and Smart.

In 73 games last season, Vucevic averaged 31.2 minutes per game, scoring 18.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 0.7 blocks. His scoring ranks 43rd in the league and his rebounds ranks 11th.

Vucevic is a center with excellent offensive skills. He can play strong in the inside, shoot three-pointers, has excellent rebounding ability, and has certain support skills. However, in the past, he was the impression of him that his offensive efficiency was not good enough and he was even a bit inefficient as a center.

But last season, Vucevic played the most efficient year in his career, with three shooting percentages being 53.0%/40.2%/80.5% respectively, and his real shooting percentage was 61.1% (54.0% of the previous year). His shooting percentage and real shooting percentage were the highest in his career. Although

also has shortcomings, such as not being good enough in defense and lacking in the game, no matter what, after playing such an efficient season, it is unlikely that the Bulls in the reconstruction period will take the initiative to buy out with them.

The fact is also true, according to the Bulls KC Johnson report: The Bulls will not buy out Vucevic's contract this summer, and they still hope to send him away before the transaction deadline to get some return on assets.

That's right, the Bulls' expectations for Vucevic are a bit high. The main reason is:

1. Vucevic is already 34 years old, and he will be 35 in two months. His future state will definitely decline.

2. Vucevic's defense is too poor, and he is different from Ayton's. He really can't defend it.

3. Although Vucevic's data was good last season, his on/off was -2.1, and with him, the Bulls are even worse. In fact, last season was the best time for the Bulls to send him away, but even before the trading deadline last season, Vucevic's market was very deserted, which means that the Bulls wanted to get positive assets through trading, which was basically impossible for the Bulls to get him.

As we said, the Bulls are not in a hurry to let Vucevic leave the team during the reconstruction period, so the possibility of buying out this summer is really not high, and even if they buy out, the Lakers can't sign him directly now. Although the Lakers still have a place, there is only 1.1 million space left, because it triggered the hard salary cap, and now they can't even give a basic salary unless they are traded or laid off.

However, by February next year, Vucevic may become a big fish in the buyout market. At that time, not only the Lakers, but also the Warriors and other teams should also launch an impact on Vucevic.

Pure personal point of view, Vucevic's style is actually not very suitable for teams with Doncic as the core. In terms of adaptability, Ayton is much better than him, and the Lakers are not short of players who can take the ball offense. Next season, there will be Doncic, James, Reeves, and Laravia, Smart and Hachimura can also consume the ball rights.

But the Warriors can really fight for it. Although Vucevic may be a bit old and his defense is not outstanding enough, he is at least a center, with rebounds and a little pass, and his system with Cole should be quite suitable.

For the Lakers, I personally think that after Doncic's contract renewal is officially completed, there should be no more operations this summer. Their further actions should be in February. If the record is not ideal, there may be unexpected major operations.

As for Vucevic, the Montenegro center has been in the NBA for 14 years and has won some honors, such as 2 All-Stars, but he has only played in the playoffs 4 times and has not made a breakthrough in the first round once. I hope that at the end of his peak, at least he can make some different breakthroughs in the playoffs.