If LaVar Ball’s prediction comes true, Zach LaVine won’t be playing in a Chicago Bulls uniform next season.
LaVine’s free agency period has already gotten off to an interesting start, as the two-time NBA All-Star recently offered a message about his approach to the summer that was far from encouraging for Chicago. As the days pass, there will likely be many rumors and reports about LaVine’s future, which was the case on Wednesday.
The father of the Ball brothers recently sat down for an interview with David Kaplan to discuss his sons in-depth and offer his opinions on the future of their teams. When the topic of Lonzo Ball and his Bulls came up, LaVar didn’t hold back on his thoughts about LaVine’s future in the Windy City.
“Do you think Zach LaVine stays with the Bulls? There are rumors he might be going to the Lakers,” asked Kaplan.
“You are very, very smart,” replied Ball. “I’m going to tell you like I told him. He’s gone.”
Not even needing to be asked why he believed so, LaVar continued with his reasoning.
"“It started off, ‘Zach LaVine, Zach LaVine, Zach LaVine’. Now you heard a few things happened and guess who’s doing all the big plays? All I hear is DeMar. DeMar, DeMar, DeMar. He don’t want to play second fiddle. And who don’t want to go to L.A? He’s from the West Coast. If he’s got a chance to go there? I guarantee you he ain’t no fool.”"
How much stock should Bulls fans take into these comments?
Off the bat, I’m inclined to say not much. First of all, to say the Lakers would need to perform some roster gymnastics to pull this off would be an understatement. As Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus summarized earlier this month:
"“Even if the franchise offloads every player outside of James and Davis, cap space would max out at around $29.5 million. Los Angeles would need to trade Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, and Russell Westbrook without bringing back salary.”"
LaVine would still have to take a massive discount for this scenario, which is very unlikely.
So what motivation would LaVar have for predicting this? I’m not entirely sure, but I can at least speculate. Lonzo signed with Klutch Sports in September of 2020 and LaVine did the same in August 2021. LaVar mentions all the opportunities for off-court money in the form of commercials and other deals if he goes to Los Angeles.
Being in L.A. himself, I imagine he wants to get as many of his sons to the West Coast as possible playing alongside the best talent available eventually. LaVar is always working toward bigger opportunities for his boys, and if that means trying to coax other talents to where he wants them, that’s what he’ll do.
Ultimately, we’ll have to see if there are legitimate sources that report a similar idea in the coming few weeks. I wouldn’t hold my breath, though.