The Chicago Bulls could still sneak into the playoffs, but trading Zach LaVine could secure value for years to come.
At 7-10, the Bulls are by no means out of the playoff race. But, this is not a team which will compete for a championship anytime soon. This is right about the time they should start thinking about the trade deadline.
Do the Bulls buy, sell or stay put? Sure, they could actually attempt to buy and make a push towards a six or seven seed in the East. But, that might not be the right move for the long-term success of this team.
The Bulls have to look at the upcoming year or two and understand they could potentially have a lot of money to work with in free agency. Coming off the books this summer is Otto Porter Jr.’s $28 million salary, first of all.
Chicago also has a decision to make regarding Lauri Markkanen, whose base salary this season is around $7 million. In addition, they’ll finally see the Cristiano Felicio contract dissolve, freeing up another $7.5 million.
Then, there’s the case of LaVine, who signed what now looks like a bargain of a deal in 2018 — four years, $78 million.
Right now, his contract is incredibly cheap and would be very easy to trade. There could be a handful of contending teams looking to add one more piece, and with the way LaVine has been playing this year, he could be the guy to put another franchise over the top.
As the Bulls’ best player, he’d probably go to a contender as their second or third-best player. For a guy averaging a career high in points (27.0), rebounds (5.2), assists (5.3) and three-point percentage (39.7), that prospective team would be adding a true star.
LaVine has taken it up a notch under Billy Donovan this season, proving he is deserving of not only being voted an All Star, but finally some overdue respect. He’s been a bright spot for the Bulls in a dark time, but it may be time to let him go and completely commit to the future of this franchise.
While LaVine has been phenomenal on offense, he’s lacked the ability to defend on the perimeter, and that’s something Chicago has needed for a while. But, if he were to land with a contender, that team likely already has some strong defensive players. They’d just need him to be another weapon on offense.
If the Bulls were to trade LaVine this year, there’s no question the base line for a deal would be a first-round pick. The way NBA trades have been going lately, Chicago should be able to get that as a minimum, if not a pair of first rounders for LaVine.
Losing him would hurt, but adding multiple picks and going into the future with plenty of money to spend could give this new front office the ammo it needs to build their team the way they want.
