With DeMar DeRozan no longer on the Bulls, trading Zach LaVine is the last big item on Chicago's offseason checklist. The team has been trying to move him since last season, but there has been no interest throughout the league.
While LaVine's market has been depressed by some criticisms that are true, many are false. The pendulum has swung way too far toward the negative with him. His production on the court speaks for itself. As for the off-court criticisms, they're mostly bunk.
Here's why LaVine is not as toxic as portrayed.
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Why Zach LaVine is a better trade candidate than portrayed
LaVine is not a bad teammate
There seems to be an idea that LaVine is a pouty superstar who doesn't play well with others. There is very little factual basis to support that statement.
LaVine did have one bad moment last season. He rushed off the court, pushing away a Bulls PR employee after a comeback win when he should have been celebrating with his teammates. He apologized for that incident.
Putting that aside, if you watched the games, then you would have noticed LaVine leading the cheers from the Bulls bench while they were playing better without him.
It would be really easy for Zach LaVine to sulk through the Bulls finding so much success without him.
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) December 20, 2023
Instead, he's been the guy leading the cheers for his teammates. https://t.co/FenoRDPmUY pic.twitter.com/0xCUX8oK7d
LaVine has publicly supported his teammates throughout the years. After bad losses, he has mostly pointed the finger at himself rather than taking the easy way out and blaming others.
LaVine's attitude hasn't been extraordinarily poor, but it is true that he has been a difficult player to incorporate into the team's offense. He will break off plays to hunt for his own shot, and he's not a fast decision-maker. When you look at who he's had to pass the ball off to, his mentality starts to make sense.
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LaVine is not a losing player
LaVine has been in some truly atrocious situations both in Chicago and Minnesota. He's played for six different coaches in 10 years, including some of the worst of the last decade. His rosters have been mostly awful — 72 of his 101 teammates are out of the league today.
Names like Gorgui Dieng, Shabazz Muhammad and Ryan Arcidiacono litter the top 10 players that he's played the most games alongside. Try winning games when Arcidiacono leads your team in win shares (that really happened, back in the 2018-19 season while LaVine was coming back early from an ACL tear).
Through it all, LaVine has managed to be wildly productive. He's been near the top of the league in usage and well above average in terms of efficiency despite defenses loading up on him.
This is how he has been routinely guarded while on the Bulls, who have never put good shooting around him:
How teams will guard you if you don't play with shooting threats.
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) January 16, 2024
(LaVine passed to a wide open Dalen Terry, who passed to a wide open Vooch, who missed a 3). pic.twitter.com/Pp4BDfExMU
Other flawed players have had high-level success by getting into better environments. LaVine was once part of a losing trio of Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns. Both of those Timberwolves teammates have gone deep in the playoffs by sliding into smaller roles. Lauri Markkanen went 77-144 in his time as a Bull, looking like a draft bust in the process. He made an All-Star team with the Jazz and is now one of the hottest trade names in the market on a new team.
LaVine can be part of a championship team as a No. 3 guy instead of being miscast as a No. 1 or 2 on horrendous teams. That might also help his defense, which is slightly below average but not as bad as other star scorers. That is what happened when he was in a better role on Team USA, helping them win a gold medal in 2021.
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LaVine is overpaid, but not significantly
LaVine's $43 million salary is the 17th-highest in the league. He's not in that tier of player, but he is a top-50 guy. This isn't a case of Jordan Poole making $34 million and actively damaging a team. LaVine is a good-not-great player.
LaVine is overpaid by around $10-15 million annually. That's important in the new collective bargaining agreement where every dollar matters, but let's not act like he's John Wall at the end of his career. He's a 29-year-old who will easily average over 20 points per game, shoot lights out on 3s and get to the rim at will.
What should the Bulls do with Zach LaVine?
It's understandable that the Bulls don't want LaVine on their team anymore. They will owe the Spurs a pick in a great 2025 draft if it falls outside of the top 10, and the Bulls need to keep that pick to jump-start their rebuild.
There has been speculation that Chicago is trying to attach a first-round pick to move LaVine. That would be a horrendous idea. The Bulls rushed their last rebuild both at the start and end of it, leading to their current predicament. Good rebuilds like the Thunder and Sixers take on bad money to get picks. It's unclear why the Bulls would do the exact opposite.
If LaVine is too good to play and the Bulls start winning, that is a great problem to have. It will erase the narrative that he is a losing player and help his trade market.
If LaVine really is a losing player and makes the Bulls worse, that is also a great outcome for the team. They'll have an even better chance at landing Cooper Flagg, and LaVine's value will improve as he knocks one more year off the rest of his contract.
The Bulls are in a win-win situation with LaVine. The only way to screw this up is to trade what will likely be a great draft pick in the future to get him off the team.
The offers for LaVine aren't out there right now, but the NBA is a rapidly changing league. It only takes one injury to a star or a desperate team that thinks they're one piece away. The Bulls have shot themselves in the foot by not having a good grasp of when to time their moves. They need to take it slow with this one.