With the Chicago Bulls‘ season now over, the focus has shifted to the offseason, and there’s no bigger question to address than what will happen with two-time NBA All-Star Zach LaVine in free agency.
Being unrestricted, the 27-year-old now has the freedom to sign with any team he deems worthy of his services. One team that’s been mentioned from time to time has been the San Antonio Spurs. While they ultimately had an unimpressive season, they have a young core with promise headlined by their newest All-Star, Dejounte Murray.
Murray grew up in the same Washington area as LaVine, and the two have had a relationship dating back to well before their time in the NBA. Zach was one of the biggest proponents for Murray to be selected as an All-Star this season, and when that eventually happened, he was happy for his longtime friend.
Happy for my dawg! More then deserving @DejounteMurray 💯
— Zach LaVine (@ZachLaVine) February 7, 2022
There have been dozens of interactions between the two on Twitter over the years, but the latest one had the NBA world buzzing more than any.
Dejounte Murray appears to openly recruit LaVine
Although it wasn’t a direct interaction with LaVine, the message in Murray’s now-deleted tweet is pretty clear: he wants his buddy to venture south this summer.
As I covered in my write-up at Air Alamo, the tweet prompted many users to question whether or not this fits into the label of tampering. After all, it’s not like he was subtle in his message, even if it’s now no longer up.
https://twitter.com/oldnbatweetz/status/1519859785595645952?s=20&t=yOcUhb1WeSiMOy4yy352IA
Not only does LaVine have ties to Dejounte, but he also has spoken glowingly about his time playing for Coach Popovich and Team USA in the past. Of course, he’s also embraced Chicago over his last five seasons and is playing the best basketball of his career as a Bull.
On top of his pending knee surgery and the aftermath of that, the question of whether or not LaVine will be interested in returning to Chicago might be up in the air for a while. Situations like other stars recruiting him on Twitter probably don’t move the needle in his mind much, but it certainly doesn’t help.
It’s going to be an interesting summer in Chicago.