Funding a suitable replacement is an all together different prospect, Basketball New Zealand [BBNZ] chief executive Iain Potter says.
Vucinic announced his intention to step down last week.
And while his absence will be a loss for the organisation, Potter is confident there are some very strong candidate's waiting on the sidelines.
Current Tall Black assistant coaches Paul Henare and Pero Cameron shape as early favourites, while former coach Tab Baldwin has also expressed an interest.
Australian Shane Heal is another name which has been floated and former Nuggets player-coach Mark Dickel may also be tempted.
That is the good news. The bad news is there is no funding in place as yet.
''In my view we need to know what level of support we'll have for the next sort of year or two,'' Potter said when asked when BBNZ hoped to have the role filled.
''Once we know that, then we'll know what sort of coach we are seeking ... and whether we have enough funds to support the coach with a high performance manager - that would make a difference.
''Nenad has had no high performance [manager] support for quite a number of years.''
Potter said BBNZ had until he end of October to get its funding application to High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) and could expect an answer late this year or early next year.
''In an ideal world you'd know what you'd have available to you three or four years out so you could make a plan which includes the coach and support resources ... and a programme of games.
''That would be a perfect world but, unfortunately, we are a bit far from perfect.''
Potter said BBNZ's financial situation meant it was unable to make commitments beyond a year.
HPSNZ provided a grant of $155,000 this year which made ''a big difference in terms of the preparation programme we could put together''.
''I'm hopeful that they would have seen that the team performed admirably [at the recent world cup] and that we can be competitive at the top level. So I'm confident that we will get funding support for next year.
''But the question is, how far does that confidence extend into the future?'' he said, adding it made it hard to offer job security when funding could be cut off the following year.
''They [potential replacement] will want to know that it is not just a six month gig.''
On Vucinic's departure, Potter said he had done an ''incredible job over the last eight years'' to provide the team ''with the best opportunities with the limited resources available''.
''He is a big loss but I'm confident we will find others to step into the role.
''Our process is that the job will be advertised and it will be an open and transparent process. I'm sure there will be a lot of applications.''
