The Bulls may have to embrace nightmare scenario with Zach LaVine

Despite both parties wanting to move in a different direction, Zach LaVine remains in Chicago with one month remaining before the beginning of NBA training camp. It now appears likely that LaVine be with his Bulls teammates when the season opens up on October 23rd.

Back in 2022, the Chicago front office felt pressure to retain who they thought could be a superstar and gave LaVine a five year, $215 million dollar super max contract, which was the 4th-highest paid contract when signed. At the the time, it seemed fairly reasonable, but a definite risk.

LaVine has always had question marks about what where his true value stands. Already two years into the contract, it appears to be one of the worst contracts in the NBA as LaVine does not look destined to be an elite level player after 10 years in the league. The Bulls are somewhere between a rock and hard place now as they cannot find any suitors for LaVine or his contract.

What has happened has happened, the Bulls overvalued the shooting guard. They were afraid to lose him for nothing and hoped he would grow into an All-NBA talent. LaVine is not a franchise player. With that said, he still is tremendously skilled offensively and can be a key piece on a quality team. The internal fighting with management has damaged LaVine's value to the point basically every NBA team has said no thanks.

The Bulls should reconsider their approach with LaVine as the likelyhood of a trade materializing this year appears slim. A possibility does exist that the LaVine situation could up something similar to Ben Simmons and the Nets. This would be the worst-case scenario for the franchise to have LaVine's unmovable contract and get zero production out of him.

What if the Chicago Bulls kept Zach LaVine for the long-term?

This would be a nightmare scenario for most Bulls fans, but the franchise might need to make the best out of a bad situation. To be fair to LaVine has always been a high usage, but productive player. He has made two All-Star teams and averaged 25 point per game with a 38 percent from deep. Until last year, he had been relatively healthy and caused little drama for the team. However, the knock on LaVine is that his game might not translate to winning, which is demonstrated with his extremely shallow playoff resume.

This strategy would be understandably unpopular with the fanbase, but does make some logical sense. The first step to repairing the relationship with LaVine would be to change his mindset. LaVine has already made truckloads of money in his NBA career, but what he may want at this stage of his is the respect from his peers and NBA community. To change the narrative, he must play winning basketball and move past the stats.

An honest evaluation with LaVine's relationship with the front office and coaching staff needs to take place. Now that LaVine is unlikely to be moved, it is would be easier to move on from Billy Donavon and/or Karnisovas. This seems unlikely with the history of Jerry Reinsdorf, but something that would give LaVine a fresh start.

The best version of the Chicago Bulls has LaVine as a highly skilled 3-D player, that can play fast in transition and becomes league average on defense. The cap number of the LaVine contract is an obstacle, but he is a productive in the right role. Ball will become a free agent this year and the Vucevic contract will be more movable towards the All-Star break. If the Bulls are able to move off these two contracts that will certainly create more flexibility to build the roster around the young core and LaVine.

The offense should not revolve around LaVine anymore, but he should be used appropriately. Let Giddey and Ball push the pace and let White and LaVine run ahead and shoot 3's. Offensively, it does seem like it fits. LaVine will want to isolate and play 1 on 1, but that cannot be a staple of the offense. Defensively there will be challenges, but on paper it makes sense.

This scenario probably has readers' cringe, but with little traction on the trade front this might be the best option.