On Tuesday, it was reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania that the Chicago Bulls and Zach LaVine were both open to a breakup, in the form of a trade. LaVine has been a Bull since 2017 when the franchise acquired him as a part of the Jimmy Butler trade. Since the deal LaVine has blossomed into an All-Star player averaging 24.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in 360 games as a Bull. Could the Bulls really trade a player who has been around for 6+ years now and has been the defining player of this generation of Bulls basketball?
On draft night 2017, the Chicago Bulls made the decision they wanted to rebuild, trading All-Star Jimmy Butler and the draft rights to Justin Patton to the Minnesota Timberwolves for LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the draft rights to Lauri Markkanen. Dunn was a 2nd year guard who had a rough rookie season but the defensive upside was there and Markkanen was a freshman who played at Arizona. Neither player worked out for the Bulls as Dunn averaged 10.7 points, 5.1 assists, and 4.0 rebounds in 149 games with the Bulls and left as a free agent, Markkanen averaged 15.6 points and 7.1 rebounds in 221 games as a Bull left in a sign-and-trade. Both players actually play for the Utah Jazz right now, Dunn is a serviceable rotation guard who is elite defensively while Markkanen has broken out since joining the Jazz and has become one of the 25-30 best players in the league. Unlike Markkanen and Dunn, LaVine, obviously, stuck in Chicago and has been the Bulls best player since the trade. However, missed draft picks and ill-advised trades have led to Chicago never quite getting to the heights they had hoped during their rebuild, only making the playoffs once since the Butler trade. It seems now the Bulls are prepared to rebuild again just 2 years after signing the 28-year-old guard to a 5yr/$215 million contract.
I first mentioned the thought of trading LaVine back in February 2021, that was before the Bulls decided to trade for DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic, but since that point, I have been pro-keeping LaVine because he is really good. Ignore the total dollars on his deal, he is only accounting for around 30% of the cap over the next 4 seasons and for a player of LaVine’s age and caliber, I believe that he is worth that money. However, the Bulls are off to another bad start, 4-7 which is 12th in the Eastern Conference and have been a mess ever since they lost Lonzo Ball to a knee injury in 2022 which, a year and a half later, he still has not returned from and won’t play this season. They are a lost cause. As a result, if the Bulls were to get blown away on an offer to off-load LaVine, which I think they will be, I would make the deal.
There are a bunch of teams that could get involved in the Zach LaVine sweepstakes, let’s start with the Miami Heat. Since the Heat do not have 2 contracts that matchup nicely with LaVine’s $40 million salary, this is a tricky one. Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson for Zach LaVine, Dalen Terry, and Andre Drummond works mathematically and makes sense for both sides, the issue is the draft compensation. The main point of why this could get tricky is because of what Chicago thinks of Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson (and his bloated contract), and Dalen Terry. The Bulls are right up against the luxury tax as is and doing a deal without Terry would put them over. Now, it would put them over by such an insignificant amount that they could just cut Terry Taylor and get under so the question is would they rather keep Taylor or Terry. My assumption would be Terry considering they just picked up his 3rd year option but ya never know, dumping Terry's money is not a bad thing in my opinion. On Herro and Robinson, do they like Tyler Herro to be a core part of their future and how many picks would it take to absorb Robinson’s money? The Heat can offer up to 3 first round picks, and 3 pick swaps, pending a move with the Thunder. I think that if they put their 2028 and 2030 picks unprotected in this deal, they would have LaVine but do they want to do that? I think I would do it considering they are in a win-now window and have missed out on so many other stars but that might be too rich, especially with Herro also in the trade. Maybe the 2 sides can settle on a 1 pick and 2 pick swaps, though I think Miami overpay to make sure they get LaVine on their team.
The Orlando Magic are a team that should absolutely make a big offer on LaVine. They have the cap flexibility in the future to absorb LaVine’s big salary, the picks and young players to entice the Bulls, and a talented enough team to justify making a big move like this, the question is which of their young players are on the table. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are off the table because they are too good and Cole Anthony’s contract is poison-pilled so he is likely off the table as well. Anthony Black was the 6th overall pick in the draft, that is also too rich for my taste so he is a non-starter if I am Orlando. However, Jett Howard I would be open to talking about and would likely need to be involved if Orlando were to do anything with what Miami can offer. Let’s add Jalen Suggs as well, he is a good player but not one that I think is someone Orlando needs to hold on too. Jonathan Issac, Gary Harris, Jett Howard, Jalen Suggs, and draft picks for LaVine, Drummond, and Terry. The picks are the question, how many unprotected picks is Orlando willing to add to get LaVine? That I am not sure of and one that I would understand their hesitancy on. LaVine does not make the Magic a championship contender and trading multiple unprotected picks for him is a tough call to make. One thing Zach LaVine does for the Magic is turns them into a legit playoff team who could turn some heads.
While the Florida teams are the deals I like the most, there are other teams that could get involved, here are the reasons I do not think LaVine goes to those teams. The New York Knicks are hunting for a bigger name and better player than LaVine. I do not think the Philadelphia 76ers have the assets to get a deal done, more on them later. I know the Los Angeles Lakers do not have the assets to get a deal done. The Toronto Raptors could make this trade but I do not want them too because they should be rebuilding and starting over. Finally, the Oklahoma City Thunder already have so many backcourt players that a deal does not make sense. The 76ers are in an interesting case here because they are 8-2 and look like a legit championship contender. They almost do not need to make this deal and maybe shouldn’t. Their chemistry looks really good right now and a smaller move, like acquiring Alex Caruso from the same team LaVine is on might be a better deal for them to make. I also don’t think they have enough assets to get a deal done. They can offer 3 first round picks, 2 unprotected, but the players they can offer are not appealing so, to me, there are a lot of better offers for the Bulls out there.
I honestly have no idea where LaVine will land, Miami seems like the best fit but they never seem to get the big deals like this done. I hope it ends up being Orlando but it seems very rich for a team that wants to have flexibility going forward. As a result, it will likely end up being a mystery team or the 76ers since I said I do not think Philly would make that move right now. He will probably be a 76er since I was so adamant that he won’t be a 76er.
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