Chicago Bulls: Zach LaVine could play a waiting game with front office

One of the brightest rising stars in the Eastern Conference this season is the Chicago Bulls’ 26-year-old shooting guard Zach LaVine. The former UCLA Bruin got his first-career All-Star nod this year, which could’ve easily come his way last year when the All-Star Weekend festivities were hosted at the home of the Bulls, at the United Center in Chicago.

First-year executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley are now trying to build their roster around the star duo of big man Nikola Vucevic and LaVine. While that pairing hasn’t resulted in too much success in the win column for them as of yet, it should come in due time.

But the ultimate goal for the Bulls has to be building a core that involves the likes of Vooch and LaVine, and potentially rookie forward Patrick Williams, that will eventually be capable of contending for an NBA Championship. The current roster at hand isn’t anything close to reaching that level of contender status, though.

Keeping LaVine as a key piece of this core will be important for the way that the Bulls are building this roster as of late.

According to a Bleacher Report piece from April 14, the Bulls star shooting guard LaVine is unlikely to sign a contract extension with the team this offseason. In light of the potential to get max contract-level money if he waits until the summer of 2022, it sounds like LaVine will reportedly hold out until then to get his next deal done.

Zach LaVine working to a max contract with the Chicago Bulls?

It’s no surprise that LaVine is seeking out a major pay raise compared to his current contract. He’s making a good bit under $20 million annually on his current contract. The Bulls signed his offer sheet three offseasons ago, which locked him in to a four-year deal worth around $78 million.

It’s very likely that LaVine’s next deal will pay him a little less than twice as much annually as he’s getting now.

There’s also always the possibility that the Bulls star is going to seek other options, depending on how well the Bulls do in terms of postseason success in the current season and 2021-22 campaign. The Bulls aren’t looking too great at the moment, as they just snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 17.

LaVine still has yet to make the playoffs in his NBA career to date, which could change if the Bulls win one of the series for the play-in tournament next month. To get to that point, the Bulls first have to finish the regular season as a top 10 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Next up for LaVine and the Bulls is a meeting with the surging Boston Celtics and head coach Brad Stevens on the road on April 19. They will carry a record of 23-33 into that game, looking to extend their winning streak to two.