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The Chicago Bulls want to get rid of Zach LaVine and his contract in any way they can. It may be hard at the moment, but there could be a contender out there desperate enough to roll the dice with him.
One possible team that might just do that is the Denver Nuggets. In an August 16 story, Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley proposed the following trade between the Nuggets and Bulls.
Nuggets receive: LaVine and a 2029 first-round pick swap (top-three protected)
Bulls receive: Michael Porter Jr. and Zeke Nnaji
Buckley explained why the Bulls would accept that trade package from the Nuggets. He started with why the Bulls would be willing to include an asset to get rid of LaVine.
“Chicago, meanwhile, seemingly doesn’t want to sacrifice assets in a LaVine trade, but that’s probably the only way to get rid of him and start fresh. Here, at least the cost is only a protected future swap—since Porter’s own contract isn’t great—and the return is two players who can fit with the franchise’s finally adopted youth movement,” Buckley wrote.
He also explained why they would be willing to take back what they would for LaVine.
“Porter is overpaid for a shooting specialist, but 6’10” shot-makers who provide volume and efficiency will forever intrigue. Slotting into an offensive ecosystem with a less defined hierarchy might allow him to tap into the creation skills that had draft analysts so intrigued back in the day.
“Nnaji doesn’t have much to show for his first four NBA seasons, but he’s still a 23-year-old 2020 first-round pick and should be capable of filling a rotation role for a team that isn’t facing such extreme win-now pressure as Denver.”
Porter will enter the third year of a five-year, $179.3 million contract.
Bulls Expect Zach LaVine to Attend Training Camp
Despite their interest in moving LaVine, Bulls vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas told reporters that they expect the two-time star to be ready for training camp.
“We expect him to be with us at the start of training camp,” Karšinovas told reporters, per The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry.“I think he can help this group next year.”
He added that the Bulls won’t make a trade for the sake of making one.
“We’re not going to make deals that are not going to make us better,” Karnišovas said. “We’re going to be patient with that. But I think we’re far away from a finished product now.”
Even if they want to rebuild, they may have to swallow LaVine’s contract whole regardless.
Warriors Not Interested in Zach LaVine
Even though LaVine is an All-Star when healthy, his contract is so expensive that teams trying to win a title, like the Golden State Warriors, don’t want him.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Tony Jones, and Anthony Slater reported that though the Warriors have plenty of assets to dangle, LaVine is not one of their targets.
“The Warriors maintain control of all but one of their future first-round picks… plus a young quartet of (Brandin) Podziemski, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Moody, and Jonathan Kuminga, providing flexibility and ammunition to be an aggressive buyer all the way to February’s deadline. They’ve shown no appetite to enter the Zach LaVine or Brandon Ingram market,” they wrote in an August 7 story.
