The Chicago Bulls have a Zach LaVine problem and it isn’t going away.
When healthy, LaVine is an All-Star level player and one of the most dynamic scorers in the NBA, a player that is too good to just give up for nothing.
But he’s coming off surgery and owed a ton of money that no one wants to pay him, including Chicago. This puts the Bulls in a tough spot, as they don’t want to have to unload assets to move LaVine just as they are starting a rebuild, but keeping him presents challenges to their team building and future.
Keeping him may be their only option according to insider Marc Stein (subscription) who had this to say about the NBA’s longest running soap opera:
"League sources say that the Bulls are thus resigned to fact that they will likely be forced to start the new season with LaVine on the roster and take it a step further by trying to help him rebuild some trade value after months of fruitless efforts to find a new home via trade — and after a foot injury and eventual surgery limited the 29-year-old to 25 games last season."
This all sounds good rhetorically, but not trading LaVine could quickly spiral into multiple nightmare scenarios for the Chicago Bulls.
#1: Zach LaVine gets hurt again
With three years and over $136 million left on his deal, LaVine is an injury risk that no one wants to take on, especially now that the new CBA has made bad contracts even more punitive.
In the best-case scenario, LaVine starts the season healthy, plays well and rebuilds his value, which is what the Bulls are banking on.
But in the worst, he gets hurt again and they are stuck with him for the entirety of his deal, as no one is going to take on LaVine if he suffers another serious injury.
The Bulls don’t want to give up assets to get rid of LaVine, but may regret it if they don’t and he gets hurt again. Having LaVine on the payroll for the next three seasons and producing nothing would be the worst-case scenario for the Bulls, as it would stunt their ability to build a team around their young core.