#3: Signing Zach LaVine to a 5 year/$215 million extension
This is a tough one, as LaVine was very good for the Bulls and was the biggest piece of the Jimmy Butler trade, so it made sense for the Bulls to keep him around.
What didn’t make sense was offering him the full max. Even though LaVine was already an All-Star and theoretically in his prime, he already had a troubling injury history that should have been a red flag.
Even the full financial amount would have been more palatable had the Bulls had a team option on LaVine’s last year instead of a player option, but as it stands, LaVine is going to make just under $49 million in the final year of his deal, when he’ll be on the wrong side of 30.
Now it’s a contract the Bulls would love to shed and may have to practically give him away for nothing to do it. It’s hard to fault Karnisovas for extending LaVine, but he could have done a better job of negotiating the deal in the team’s favor.