After spending years existing in the middle of the NBA's pack, the Chicago Bulls finally seem to be coming to the realization that this current group, led by dynamic yet oft-injured shooting guard Zach LaVine, is not the one that will get Chicago back to top-tier relevance. Since acquiring LaVine from the Minnesota Timberwolves back in 2017, the Bulls have made just one postseason appearance, a stark decline from the thirteen seasons prior, in which Chicago made the NBA Playoffs eleven times.
Chicago's lack of success over the last seven years surely doesn't just fall on the shoulders of Zach LaVine. But given the fact that Chicago handed him a five-year max contract back in 2022 with the expectations that his continued growth would be the catalyst in getting the Bulls over the hump, it's understandable that LaVine would end up being the scapegoat. Now, as the Bulls appear ready to blow things up, the relationship between the team and LaVine has “completely shattered,” according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
“An NBA insider told the Sun-Times on Tuesday that the relationship between LaVine and the team’s top brass is completely shattered and ‘filled with mistrust,'” Cowley wrote on Tuesday night, before noting that this all stemmed from LaVine's decision to undergo season-ending foot surgery back in early February.
“The Bulls thought LaVine ‘opting' for season-ending right foot surgery when rehab on the injury was still on the table was a counterpunch thrown below the belt,” writes Cowley. In their statement on LaVine's decision to undergo season-ending surgery, the Chicago Bulls made it perfectly clear that the choice for surgery was one made by LaVine and his representatives at Klutch Sports Group, not the team and its medical staff.
“After seeking additional medical opinions, in consultation with the Chicago Bulls training and medical staff, guard Zach LaVine and Klutch Sports Group have elected surgery on LaVine’s right foot as the next step in his recovery process. Surgery is anticipated the week of February 5. LaVine will be out 4-6 months. Updates will be provided as necessary,” the statement read.
If this were indeed a ‘counterpunch' on the part of Zach LaVine and Klutch, it was due to their feeling that the Bulls were misleading them on potential trade destinations. With the surgery, LaVine took the option of a trade off the table entirely.
The Bulls have continued shopping LaVine all throughout the summer, but there is essentially no market for the two-time All-Star, which means we could be heading toward a result that the Bulls front office and ownership group consider to be the “worst-case scenario”… LaVine still in Chicago to start the 2024-25 season.
Can the Bulls find any takers for Zach LaVine?
With DeMar DeRozan likely on his way out, Alex Caruso heading to Oklahoma City in exchange for Josh Giddey, and Bulls fans clamoring for Nikola Vucevic to be the next player shipped away, a full-fledged tear-down seems to be on the way in the Windy City. No move would indicate that more clearly than if the Bulls found a taker for Zach LaVine, but thus far, they've struck out as much as Michael Jordan did during his Minor League Baseball sabbatical.
Zach LaVine is owed over $135 million over the next three seasons. At the point he's finally off the books, he'll be 32 years old, and his injury history doesn't give much room for optimism that LaVine will be durable well into his thirties. Since being acquired by Chicago in June 2017, LaVine has missed 158 of a possible 532 regular season games, including 57 last year. No team wants to find themselves in the position where they're paying well over $40 million per year for a guy who has missed at least 35 games in a season in three of his last eight years in the NBA.
Sacramento and Golden State are the two most-likely takers for LaVine, but as things stand right now, nothing is imminent in terms of a deal being reached.
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