NBA Rumors: Chicago Bulls set 'reasonable' asking price for Nikola Vucevic

NBA Rumors: The Chicago Bulls are taking a realistic approach as they prepare for an active NBA Trade Deadline season.

As the NBA Trade Deadline quickly approaches, the Chicago Bulls are not hiding their intentions. As a team many expect to be active leading up to the deadline, it's become pretty clear that the Bulls ideally want to trade Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. If they can, there are probably a few other players the Bulls would be open to trading as well. How likely it is for the Bulls to find the right deals remains to be seen but that does appear to be the plan over the next couple of months.

According to a recent report from Jake Fischer, in hopes of moving on from some of their veteran players, the Bulls are taking a realistic approach when it comes to the possibility of trading Vucevic. Chicago is reportedly open to accepting a trade offer that starts with two second-round picks in exchange for Vucevic. Objectively, that seems like a fair starting point for the Bulls as they look to offload at least a couple of veteran players on their roster before the deadline.

The big obstacle for the Chicago Bulls

While trading both LaVine and Vucevic would be an ideal outcome for the Bulls leading up to the deadline, it may be difficult for the team to accomplish both of those moves. When it comes to Vucevic, while the asking price may not be high, the real issues come with a team that has the ability to absorb a $20 million contract over the next season and a half. I'd be one thing if Vucevic was in the final year of his deal, but it's that $21 million price tag for next season that could make it difficult to move ahead of the deadline.

There are some of those same concerns for the Bulls on the LaVine front. Even if there was a team that was willing to meet the asking price for LaVine, there's going to be some natural hesitation because of the final two years on his deal worth $90 million-plus. Any team willing to take the risk on LaVine would either have to have significant cap room or be willing to part ways with their own big-money contract. At that point, there's no guarantee Chicago would be interested in such a swap.

But this is the conundrum the Bulls find themselves in heading into the NBA Trade Deadline. The desire is there for the team to make a deal but there just might not be the right circumstances in place for the Bulls to feel comfortable hitting the reset button before the deadline.