When the Serbian curse words start spewing, it’s a good indicator that Bulls center Nikola Vucevic isn’t too happy.
NBA referees — as well as some teammates now and then — have received a dose through the years. On opening night this season, even coach Billy Donovan got a taste in a well-documented shouting match, not that Vucevic was necessarily to blame.
After all, when the front office was discussing a contract extension with Vucevic last summer, some of the talk centered around him getting more lines to read in the playmaking script. So when the screenplay wasn’t working out like he thought it should in preseason games and in the home opener against the Thunder, his frustration came to a head.
Fast-forward to the last game of November and the entire month of December, when the Bulls arguably started to turn their season around.
Before the overtime victory against the Bucks, the Bulls were 5-14, and Vucevic was averaging 15.4 points and only 3.1 assists and spending too many possessions lost in the offense as a 6-11 decoy.
In his 12 games after that — until he was sidelined for a handful of games after taking a knee to the groin — the Bulls went 8-4 and Vucevic averaged 18.7 points and four assists, and that doesn’t include his ‘‘hockey’’ assists.
“We’ve been able to do more things where he’s kind of initiating actions from the elbows,” Donovan said. “He likes a style for him offensively where he can do all those kinds of things. He can pick, he can pop, he can roll into the pocket and he can kind of read those situations.
“I think he’s in a real good place. When Zach [LaVine] went down [with a right foot injury], I thought he really helped us with our ball movement, and he normally generates and does that for us.”
Can the Bulls envision him doing that for someone else?
It’s an intriguing question, especially with Vucevic becoming trade-eligible Dec. 28.
There are some offenses that could use a versatile big man who’s not only a good passer but stretches the floor because of his ability to shoot the three. The Warriors have all but put a “Help Wanted” sign out for a player who fits that description.
But there’s one problem: Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas is focused on trying to unload LaVine first and reload his roster on the fly.
Unless they got a versatile big man back for Vucevic — which doesn’t make sense in the current trade market — that would leave only Andre Drummond in the middle, greatly hampering the way Donovan wants to play offensively as well as leaving the Bulls with no big off the bench.
Vucevic only gets dealt if Karnisovas is in blow-up mode, which he has resisted the last two seasons.
That’s fine with Vucevic, who likes his place with the team lately.
“There are many ways I can be useful for this team, not just scoring but with my playmaking,” Vucevic said. “Using me as a guy that can make plays for others, whether it’s a flash, catch the ball, off-the-ball movement, rolls to the pockets, posts, whatever it is. I think it really helps our team. It’s not just me; I think everybody has been in a better place lately. You can see it. You can see it in the way we’re playing out there.
“Lately, I’m playing with more confidence and enjoying it more. Hopefully, it continues that way.”
Some Serbian curse words are sure to be unleashed if it doesn’t.
