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The Chicago Bulls’ efforts to trade Zach LaVine have been unfruitful.
They have tried to attach first-round draft capital to his contract to no avail, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks on June 30.
NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson suggested they could use the second-round picks they received in their trade of DeMar DeRozan to incentivize a team take on LaVine on the July 7 episode of the “Bulls Talk Podcast.”
Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz has a “win-win” three-team trade idea to secure a deal:
Bulls get:
– Andrew Wiggins
– Brandon Ingram
Warriors get:
– Zach LaVine
Pelicans get:
– Nikola Vucevic
– Gary Payton II
– Kevon Looney
– 2025 first-round pick (top-14 protected from POR via CHI)
– Second-round picks (2028 & 2029)
“If Ingram doesn’t fit, holds out for a max deal next summer and/or suffers further injuries, the Bulls can treat him as an expiring $36 million salary,” Swartz wrote on July 9. “Of course, if Ingram has another All-Star season in 2024-25, the Bulls might have a better chance keeping him as the only team that can offer him a five-year deal.
“The Bulls have to take on Andrew Wiggins in this deal, but he’s owed $53.3 million less over the next three years than LaVine ($84.7 million compared to $138 million).”
Bulls Add NBA Champ, Former All-Star While Shedding Salary in Proposed Trade
LaVine is in Year 3 of a five-year, $215.1 million contract. He has a $43 million cap hit in 2024-25 and a $48.9 million player option for the final season in 2026-27. Vucevic, 33, will earn $20 million in Year 2 of a three-year, $60 million pact in 2024-25.
Ingram, 26, averaged 20.8 points, 5.7 assists, and 5.1 rebounds in 2023-24. He is in the final year of a five-year, $158.2 million contract.
He will count $36 million against the salary cap in 2024-25.
The Athletic’s Will Guillory reported on July 8 that there was internal “optimism” around the two
sides potentially agreeing on a contract extension. Wiggins, 29, posted a 13.2-point, 4.5-board, 1.5-assist line in 2023-24.
He is in Year 2 of a four-year, $109 million contract with a $26.3 million cap hit in 2024-25. There is a $30 million player option for the final season of the deal in 2026-27.
Like Ingram (2019-20), Wiggins (2021-22) is a one-time All-Star.
He is also a champion, helping the Warriors win the 2022 NBA Finals. The Athletic’s Anthony Slater reported on July 9 that the Warriors are holding out for Utah Jazz forward and former Bull Lauri Markkanen.
Bulls Have Incentive to Tank in 2024-25
Swartz’s scenario would shave $700,00 from the Bulls’ books in 2024-25, trading LaVine and Vucevic’s combined $63 million salary for Ingram and Wiggins’ combined $62.3 million.
The Bulls are $4 million below the luxury tax, per Spotrac, and have been averse to paying it.
This scenario could keep them competitive enough to miss out on their first-round pick. That could cost them an opportunity to land Cooper Flagg, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo’s projected No. 1 pick as of June 28.
The Bulls owe the pick to the San Antonio Spurs from their trade for DeRozan in 2021. They will keep the pick if it lands inside the top 10 in the draft lottery in 2025.
The Bulls have been unable to find a trade taker for LaVine.
The Warriors rejected the Bulls’ previous LaVine trade offer, per Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes on June 28. If they want a chance to keep their pick and land Flagg, they could have to trade him and Vucevic by the trade deadline in February.
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