The Chicago Bulls have not had a ton of things work in their favor recently, but it's safe to say the Zach LaVine trade is one thing they can walk away from being relatively proud of. After dealing LaVine away on February 3rd, what followed would serve to vindicate the Bulls' front office.
Could Chicago have gotten more for LaVine? Potentially, but that doesn't change the fact that what they ended up with wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. The Bulls got back Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, and they were able to re-coup their own 2025 first-round pick from the San Antonio Spurs.
I think some Bulls fans are so focused on the fact that the team didn't get back another first-round pick that they're not recognizing how good the other pieces in this deal have ended up being to this point. Sure, maybe only getting back your own pick could be seen as embarrassing if you're viewing it through that lens, but let's try to examine the bigger picture.
I get it. Chicago has gone through some rough times as of late, and it sometimes feels like looking at the glass as half empty is just the natural thing to do. It's almost like muscle memory at a certain point. But the return the Bulls got back has been far from bad.
The Bulls should feel good about their Zach LaVine trade
Kevin Huerter had something of a career renaissance after arriving in Chicago back in the winter. Almost immediately, he was seen as the best piece of the trade on the Bulls' side, and for good reason.
Then when it comes to Tre Jones and Zach Collins, both of those guys were not exactly thriving back in San Antonio. After putting on the Bulls uniform, it's not like they became All-Stars overnight, but the raw numbers at least would suggest that they found a better environment to thrive.
Of course, the biggest point here has to be concerning LaVine himself. After he got to Sacramento, the Kings' roster looked a bit unbalanced, and the team failed to make the playoffs. That alone should have had Bulls fans feeling just a bit more positive about the deal.
Not to mention the fact that LaVine's contract is a hard one to trade, which may leave him stuck in Sacramento for the foreseeable future. Zach's still going to be missed in Chicago by some of the most die-hard fans, but it feels hard to say Bulls fans should feel downcast about how this whole situation is turning out.