Despite the Chicago Bulls putting him on the trade block and trading away both Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic remains committed to the Chicago Bulls. The veteran big man wants to finish out his contract.

After this season, the 34-year-old has one year remaining on his three-year, $60 million deal. In 2025-26, fans would see him getting paid $21.4 million. Once his contract is up, Vucevic will be an unrestricted free agent.

Per the man himself, he isn’t thinking about money or what’s happening with his future, as he just wants to play with the guys currently on the team and win games.

“Who knows what happens in the summer, but right now I’m focused on this group of guys,” Vucevic said. “I’ve really enjoyed playing with them. Guys with good character, guys that really want to win, they care. We play for each other, we compete, and that’s what you want.”

Vucevic has a strong mindset and outlook when it comes to front offices making the moves they make and how to respond as players.

“It’s just the way it is in this league. You can’t dwell over what happens. Teams make decisions, front offices, and that’s their decision. We as players, we focus on what we can do to become the best versions of ourselves,” Vucevic said.

The talented stretch-big is averaging 18.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. Vucevic has appeared in 64 games this season.

When the deadline was here, multiple teams, such as the Golden State Warriors, had reported interest in Chicago’s big man. However, no deal physically materialized and he remains with the Bulls.

Fans can now breathe a sigh of relief after some good news was shedded on Jayson Tatum’s ankle injury scare.

According to the man himself, Tatum’s ankle is “just sore.” From what he can feel, there is nothing significantly wrong. Boston will be more “cautious” moving forward in their quest for another championship.

“I literally just asked him how he was doing, and he said, ‘OK,'” Mazzulla said. “He’ll do anything and everything to make sure he gets better.”

Joe Mazzulla is optimistic for his upcoming tests, as he also believes it is nothing to be concerned about.

Tatum left in the third quarter of Monday’s game against the Sacramento Kings. Tatum landed on Domantas Sabonis’ after going up for a shot.

The Golden State Warriors travel to Florida to take on the Miami Heat Tuesday night, which will be a must-watch night due to Jimmy Butler making his return to Miami for the first time since the trade.

Butler was asked a handful of questions about his time in Miami, the upcoming tribute video, and who accepts the blame for the way their relationship ended. His responses are as expected.

“Will I watch?” Butler said when asked about the potential of a Heat tribute video. “Yeah, I’ll watch. If they have one, if they don’t. It makes no difference. It really doesn’t.”

Beyond the tribute to him, Butler reconfirmed publicly that he had no intentions of signing an extension with Pat Riley. In fact, he knew his time with the organization was coming to an end.

Despite opening that can of worms, the 35-year-old did state for the record that he isn’t taking all the blame and says he’s “always painted as the bad guy.”

“I’m always painted as the bad guy. Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve always been the problem,” Butler said. “So we’ll take it. I don’t got nothing to say. I’m not mad at being the bad guy. It’s all the way that everything is portrayed. Some people talk to the media, some people don’t. I’ve never been one to tell my side of the story to almost anybody. Let everybody think that this is what happened and we’ll ride with it.”

Even with him being portrayed as this villainous character within the NBA, Butler is fine with it. That makes the pairing of him and Draymond Green even more terrifying for opposing players.

In 19 games with Golden State, the athletic veteran is averaging 17.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.