$36 Million All-Star Trade Candidate Floated as ‘Top’ Target for Bulls

The Chicago Bulls embarked on a youth movement but still have lingering aspects of their previous iteration. Namely, two-time former All-Stars Nikola Vucevic and Zach LaVine remain as trade candidates with multiple years left on their hefty contracts.

Vucevic is in Year 2 of a three-year, $60 million contract. LaVine is in Year 3 of a five-year, $215.1 million pact and has been a difficult player to trade for the Bulls.

Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz suggested the New Orleans Pelicans as a potential landing spot for LaVine in exchange for Brandon Ingram.

“We’ve previously outlined what a Brandon Ingram trade to the Chicago Bulls could look like, and it’s a deal that would also get Zach LaVine’s contract off the books,” Swartz wrote in an August 29 story “imagining every NBA team’s top 3 trade targets.” “At 26, Ingram may still fit a rebuild in Chicago, or the Bulls could enjoy the cap space that his expiring $36 million deal would create. His addition would take some offensive pressure off of Coby White and Josh Giddey as well.”

Ingram averaged 20.8 points, 5.7 assists and 5.1 rebounds for the Pelicans in 2023-24, shooting 49.2% from the floor and 35.5% from beyond the arc. He is in the final year of a five-year, $158.2 million contract.

He was a popular subject of trade speculation early in the 2024 offseason. But like the Bulls with LaVine, the Pelicans have been unable to find a suitable trade for Ingram.

His fit alongside the Pels stars with newcomer Dejounte Murray has only fueled speculation.

But in late July, Zach Lowe of “The Lowe Post” asserted that trade buzz surrounding Ingram had cooled.

“I haven’t really heard much buzz that the Pelicans are psyched about giving him that massive of an extension. I also haven’t heard much buzz … about Brandon Ingram being traded anywhere imminently,” he said on the July 26 episode.

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Proposed 3-Team Bulls Trade Lands Brandon Ingram From Pelicans, Andrew Wiggins From Warriors

Swartz suggested a three-team trade proposal in July that would have sent LaVine to the Golden State Warriors, bringing back forward Andrew Wiggins, while sending Vucevic to the Pelicans for Ingram.

The Bulls would also surrender the lottery-protected future first-round pick owed to them by the Portland Trail Blazers and second-round picks in 2028 and 2029.

Bulls get:

• Andrew Wiggins
• Brandon Ingram

Pelicans get:

• Gary Payton II
• Kevon Looney
• Nikola Vucevic
• 2025 first-round pick (top-14 protected via POR from CHI)
• 2028 second-round pick (via CHI)
• 2029 second-round pick (via CHI)

Warriors get:

• Zach LaVine

Wiggins is in Year 2 of a four-year, $109 million contract.

He averaged 13.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 2023-24. This deal would shave less than $1 million from the Bulls’ bottom line. It would also get the Bulls closer to cap space by reducing the Bulls’ onerous long-term contracts.

This deal would also create a logjam on the wings with Patrick Williams and rookie first-round pick Matas Buzelis in line for plenty of minutes.

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Lack of Interest in Zach LaVine Continues

In addition to his contract, LaVine also has an extensive injury history, including knee issues and a foot ailment that led to season-ending surgery.

He averaged 19.5 points on 57.8% true shooting in 2023-24. Those were low marks for LaVine since at least the 2018-19 season, and they led to a lack of interest in a player who averaged 24.8 points per game on 60.7% true shooting in 2022-23.

The Warriors were among the group with no interest in LaVine or Ingram, according to The Athletic.

“They’ve shown no appetite to enter the Zach LaVine or Brandon Ingram market,” The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Tony Jones and Anthony Slater wrote on August 7.

Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas told reporters that he expects LaVine to be with the team when training camp opens, per NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson in July.

LaVine can help rebuild his trade value with a strong start to the 2024-25 regular season.

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