Comments from Bulls vice president John Paxson suggest that the franchise is keen on letting the market decide pending restricted free agent Zach LaVine‘s value and, as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun Times writes, the 23-year-old’s fate remains a dicey topic.
Cowley writes that a source of his claims that LaVine’s camp regards him as a max or close-to-max player but that the Bulls may not be so sure.
The Bulls, he adds, have been passive in restricted free agency negotiations in the past, “lowballing” Jimmy Butler back in 2015 and letting the market dictate Nikola Mirotic‘s value last summer.
“Well, the market dictates a lot and how things go,” Paxson said. “I think the market has tightened up a little bit the last couple of years since the spike. [The Bulls] obviously value Zach a lot, and we think he’s a part of our future, but he has the opportunity to explore things.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Expect the majority of Pistons players to return to Detroit next season but some are more likely to leave than others. Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press writes that he believes the players most likely to suit up for the team in 2017/18 are Blake Griffin and Luke Kennard, while the odds of Andre Drummond returning to Motor City are closer to 85%.
- An ESPN report in January suggested that the Bucks offered Jabari Parker a three-year, $54MM contract extension last summer. We wrote about the alleged offer several months ago. This week, the forward himself shot down that report, joking that he wishes that was the case. Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel transcribed a recent radio interview the 23-year-old gave with the Milwaukee Basketball Hour.
- Two Bulls players that Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times does not expect to return next season are Paul Zipser and Jerian Grant. The former doesn’t have a high enough ceiling and the latter has already last the backup point guard spot to Cameron Payne.
The thing is there is no way they let LaVine go in restricted free agency. LaVine is a building block and the Bulls know it. Why entertain the idea of letting him walk?
Would you max him? If not then he’s looking around. Let him find out the Bulls are not the only team not going there.
the only 4 reasons I can see them letting him go is, 1. to get a high pick in next year’s more talented draft. 2. not completely sold on him reaching max contract potential. 3. not seeing him as a good fit with Markkenan and Dunn. 4. afraid of his potential of more injuries. other than those reasons, I’m sure they’re rushing to pay him max money. After what they went through with Rose and his injuries and him wanting a max contract; if they can’t get LaVine at a discount, I can totally see them letting him walk. With the Butler trade, they were hoping at least 1 of the three pieces they received would work out, Markkenan and Dunn look great together, and LaVine is still finding his way (kind of like Jamal Crawford when they traded him). With that being said, I wouldn’t be surprised either way.
He wants close to a max deal. They don’t think he’s worth that much. If they’re wrong, they can match the offer. Why wouldn’t you let him talk with other teams?
if they let him walk (trade or bench him this year), they could get a good draft pick next year. if they see someone in next year’s class that has super star potential, letting Lavine go wouldn’t be a complete bust because Dunn and Markkenan make the Butler trade pretty even (plus they also got Nwaba), so LaVine is the only one looking for a max payday right now. tanking again and getting a young super star that you don’t have to give big money for a few years is something I could easily see the Bulls’ front office doing
Grant is better then Payne…
Grant is a better shooter but not a better point guard. Payne is way more fluid on offense (ball movement, getting up and down the court quicker, decision making, and setting up the other players) and is a true point guard. Grant is a cold blooded confident shoot maker, but will dribble the air out of the ball, and many times pass it to the person closest to him instead of finding a cutter or someone opened for the right shot. This doesn’t happen on every possession, but it does happen enough to have them look at other options. His turn overs were low because he made the safe pass after dribbling the shot clock down. His assists were up because the shooters usually made the shot. The shooter was usually a player running over to him because he was dribbling too long and couldn’t make the right call with the ball in his hands. Grant is a natural 2, not a facilitator. I like Grant at the 2 and see him as an asset off the bench for any team at that position.
If LaVine is a max player, then the system is horrendously broken.
There is no way Lavine is worth a max, the dude is not even formidable on defense. Just a high volume shooter with athleticism that is all. He can take 4 years 100 million or keep it moving.
LaVine hasn’t done enough to establish himself as a “max” type player. Also have to consider whomever they’re targeting in the upcoming draft as well.
LaVine and his camp are outta their minds if they think he’s getting a max deal with the level of talent that’s gonna be available in free agency this summer.
See, that’s the rub! Too much proven talent next summer in free agency, and too much potential coming out in the 2019 draft! The Bulls could pay proven talent or tank again to add a cheap asset from the draft. either way, the Bulls hold all the cards.
I agree he should never sniff a max deal but if Allan Crabe got 4/72 then 5 for 115 probably isn’t far off.
the market has tightened up since that terrible deal that they gave crabbe. i dont see lavine getting the max but i could also see the bulls having a number that they wont go past.
Bulls’ management has been smart with money for the most part (even with the off market Felicio deal). They usually pay fair market value or a little less. One of the smartest moves they make is letting the market dictate the price because that gives both sides a starting point of what’s fair.