It’s been widely speculated that the Chicago Bulls will try and trade Zach LaVine and the three years left on his deal this summer.
There are teams who have expressed interest in the past, but his contract coupled with his dubious injury history makes LaVine a tougher sell now.
The Bulls could find a team desperate to make a splash (Detroit, Orlando) and hope the return is mostly cap relief.
They could also find a team with multiple players to send back, but then could be stuck with more mediocre rotation players that no one wanted (Lakers), but at least would be out from under LaVine’s deal.
But there is another option.
Chicago Bulls: Trading one bad contract for another
The Bulls could try to identify a team that has an equally troublesome contract and swap their problem for someone else's.
The only way this is an option for the Bulls is if the player they are getting back has fewer years left on his deal or can provide something that LaVine can’t.
There is one team out there that immediately jumps to mind, but fans of the Chicago Bulls aren’t going to like the name that would be coming back to the Windy City.
Could the Chicago Bulls trade Zach LaVine for Ben Simmons?
Like the Bulls, the Nets are a team that has a salary they would love to unload in the much-maligned Ben Simmons.
Simmons has one year at $40 million left on his deal, and if you think LaVine has injury issues, he’s nothing compared to Simmons, who has only played 57 games in the last three seasons combined.
This trade was suggested by Bleacher Report and flips one problematic deal for another:
In this trade, the Bulls take on the final year of Simmons’ contract in exchange for LaVine and two protected (one top-8, one lottery) 1st-round picks in 2027.
Simmons is arguably the least reliable player in the NBA and has been problematic everywhere he’s been, as his injury status and lackadaisical attitude towards it tend to suck up all of the oxygen in the room.
This would make sense for the Nets, especially if they have no plans to blow up their roster, as they need perimeter scoring and are getting nothing from Simmons anyway.
But would the Chicago Bulls make a move like this?
The Chicago Bulls would run away
The Bulls have made it clear that they have no intention of tearing down their roster this offseason, and this is the kind of move you would make if you were going to rebuild, not try and compete.
I would bet heavily against the Bulls making this type of trade, even though it is one they should consider.
They’d get off of two years of LaVine’s salary, plus recoup some valuable draft assets that the Bulls desperately need. They don’t control their own pick outright until 2028 because of the one they owe San Antonio and the pick they are owed from Portland may never convey, as it is lottery protected and turns into a second rounder in 2028.
Gaining two 1st-round picks would allow the Bulls to make bigger trade offers in the future, and after this season they’d have a whopping $40 million in cap space to play around with at least.
The problem is that the Bulls seem to be content chasing mediocrity when they should probably sell off their veteran assets for all of the young players and picks they can get. Instead, the Bulls will probably re-sign DeRozan, allow Caruso to play out his final year and potentially lose him for nothing, fail to trade LaVine and bring back Patrick Williams.
If all of that happens, expect to be right back here next season. Trading for Simmons would be the kind of desperate move the Bulls never make, even if there is some sense to it.