Sports
Teams Wise Not to Meet Bulls' Asking Price for Zach LaVine Amid NBA Trade Rumors – Bleacher Report
The Chicago Bulls have painted themselves into a corner, and the rest of the NBA shouldn’t do them a favor by offering an escape hatch.
ESPN’s Jamal Collier reported Monday that suitors have inquired about the asking price for Zach LaVine and balked at Chicago’s demands.
Perhaps the Bulls’ position has shifted a bit, but K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago reported in June the Bulls “are valuing LaVine highly.”
“One league source said the Bulls would be focused on getting a good young player, multiple first-round picks and salary filler if they decide to trade LaVine,” he wrote. “Another said one first-round pick and an established, high-end player might be sufficiently intriguing.”
Simply put, LaVine isn’t worth that kind of haul.
The market is broadly correcting itself after the Utah Jazz turned Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell into seven first-round picks, three pick swaps, Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler among other things.
The Brooklyn Nets did well in the Kevin Durant trade but settled for something that was a little less than than the blockbusters that were initially proposed when he first requested a trade. The glacial pace at which the Damian Lillard and James Harden sagas unfolded—or is continuing to unfold in the case of the latter—this summer reinforced the general trend.
In the case of LaVine, the extent to which he’s a positive trade asset in the first place is up for some debate.
The 28-year-old is a dynamic scorer. In his six seasons with Chicago, he’s averaging 24.5 points per game on 47.2 percent shooting, including 38.6 percent from beyond the arc.
His contributions haven’t extended much beyond that, though.
LaVine’s defense has been an issue throughout his career, and the limits of his individual playmaking abilities were made clear in how much the Bulls have struggled since Lonzo Ball was lost to a series of knee problems.
The lack of team success for LaVine can’t be chalked up to coincidence or forces beyond his control anymore, either. He has finished with a negative net rating in all but one of his nine seasons in the Association.
The Minnesota Timberwolves became a playoff team immediately after shipping the 6’5″ guard out as part of the Jimmy Butler trade, and one first-round series is all Chicago has to show so far after making him a focal point of the franchise.
Then you throw LaVine’s five-year, $215.2 million max extension into the equation. He’s still owed $178.1 million when including his 2026-27 player option.
Some contracts will be viewed differently as the salary cap continues to climb. What looks like an overpay now might represent fair value in a few years.
At the same time, the more punitive collective bargaining agreement means general managers have to be even more careful with their budgets. Assuming he’s being paired with one or more teammates on max deals, navigating around LaVine’s $46 million commitment in 2025-26 or his $49 million option the following year won’t be easy.
More than anything, teams are clearly incentivized to wait around if they genuinely see LaVine as a target.
The Bulls are pushing all in with a roster that won 40 games and couldn’t get out of the play-in tournament in 2022-23. A rebuild feels inevitable when Chicago has such a limited short-term ceiling, and it could happen sooner rather than later when DeMar DeRozan is due to be a free agent next offseason.
Trading LaVine is bound to be part of any teardown, and the window to net worthwhile assets won’t be open forever. Just ask the Washington Wizards, who had to accept the Phoenix Suns’ best offer when Bradley Beal wanted out.
Fast forward a few years, and that’s where the Bulls could be with LaVine.
