The Bulls‘ emergence as a playoff contender should benefit Zach LaVine, who is headed for unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career, writes Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. LaVine hasn’t reached the postseason in his first seven years in the NBA, but he will have an opportunity on a big stage before free agency arrives.
“Free agency is gonna be a big milestone for me,” LaVine said. “It’s my first time going into it really being [an] unrestricted free agent. I dealt with it being restricted before, so it’s a whole new experience. I’m excited for the season with the Bulls. But you know, moving forward, it’s gonna be a whole new experience for me.”
LaVine’s first big payday came as a restricted free agent in 2018 when the Kings gave him a four-year, $78MM offer sheet. Chicago opted to match it, even though LaVine wasn’t far removed from ACL surgery, and he has turned into an elite scorer with All-Star appearances the past two seasons.
LaVine is putting up big numbers again, averaging 24.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 47 games. His scoring has declined from last season, but the Bulls have more options with the offseason additions of DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso.
LaVine is preparing to land the largest contract of his career when free agency arrives. He’s eligible for a five-year deal around $200MM if he re-signs with the Bulls, and possibly even more if he makes an All-NBA team.
“I think we all get what we deserve at the level we play at, for our team and around the league. I think I stack up with everybody at that level,” he said. “We’ll let the chips fall. Is the [max] the goal? I don’t know if it’s the goal, but I should be getting what I deserve. I’ll let them tell me what that is and we’ll go from there.”
You’d be stupid to give this guy a max. He’s very good, not great, and health is a huge concern. All-NBA? Yeah, right.
He’s a top 30 guy in the league. Someone will 100% give him a max deal. If it’s not the Bulls, who do they replace him with that Carrie’s less risk, would equal or better his production and cost less than him? Just curious.
Can the Bulls even offer him that much given the rest of their contracts? If so, get it done, I guess.
Yes they have his bird rights which means they can go over the cap to sign him.
This is the one issue with the “Max.” It forces teams to have to overpay their best players, even if they aren’t a top 10 or so player and aren’t worth max money.
Giving LaVine the max won’t be as bad of a contract as say T.Harris, Porzingis, Wiggins, Murray, Jrue, D.Russ, Westbrook, Hayward, or B.Griffin, but they are almost forced to sign him to the Max if they want to remain competitive…
Depends on health. He could be another Wall.
You wish. Or he could be another Lavine, people were saying the Bulls overpaid last time and he proved us wrong ( I regret to admit I thought we shouldn’t match him)
Why would I wish he got injured? He has an injury every year. It’s a legitimate concern. This isn’t the baby max. And he wasnt even offered the max. That 4 yr deal was pretty reasonable compared to other guys that got the same 4/80s offered.
Look at what a 200M contract does to a team when that guy is injured or can’t produce at the same level. The Bulls were smart they went for it two years in a row to improve before they had to make this decision. They rounded out the roster while they still had the cap capacity. You give a guy 200M and he goes down, you’re done. If he was a pillar of health and durability okay good. But he is not.
4/160 or 5/248 (with escalators) are the offers he is eligible for, I mean I’d offer him the 4/160 and if he doesnt like it, go to someone else for 4/160.
True but the whole intent of the max to begin with was to prevent a team’s best player from, say, asking for 60% of the cap—or, more likely, having a team with a lot of cap room driving up the price to 60% of the cap, or some absurd #.
So the max actually helps teams avoid “overpaying” their best players in a nominal sense.
The issue is really that the “max” is a one size fits all contract. The max for LeBron and KD is (essentially) the same max that guys that Wall and LaVine are offered. So the lower-rung stars are always ipso facto overpaid in a relative sense. I’m not sure if there’s an easy solution to this.
I have no problem with max contracts for the top players and I do include LaVine in that group. In the next CBA however they need to change it so that if your have a player’s bird rights not only can you go over the cap to sign them but that they don’t count as much against the cap when you do. It cripples small market teams.
The NBA isn’t baseball. Every team out there can pump money into their team and are pretty close or exceeding the cap.
The issue here is teams feeling they have to offer the max and do so. They can simply let the player go, or be smart and do a sign and trade if it means draft picks or a player of value they’d be interested in. Teams make bad signings. Lavine is solid, but his knees are of major concern. Not sure I’d sign him to a long deal. I’d give him more $$$ up front for a shorter term contract if possible, but someone will offer him a max and he’ll want to cash out. It’s hard to find a good GM these days. Presti and the Raptors guy (forgot his name) get my vote for doing it right.
I like this idea. The only counterpoint I can see is that it could cripple free agency—because while it would, say, help Chicago in this case, it would cripple the team trying to sign Zach LaVine away from Chicago. Then they’d be stuck with LaVine taking up way more of their cap than otherwise.
Subsequent question would be: if ZL does a sign and trade this summer, does his contract have the same cap implications to the acquiring team as it does assuming he signs outright in CHI?
ZL for KD sign n trade once KD forces his way out of BK
No thanks
Bulls went for what amounts to negotiating leverage last summer and got it (Ball, Caruso, DDR)… wether that was the point of signing them or not.
So I don’t expect them to offer the max to Lavine.
Well played as they say. Proactive. And they worked out as productive anyway! Perhaps leaving a hole at the 4 was part of the plan… Gives more room for the newbies (DDR) to show off, making Lavine less crucial.
He’s likely not getting a max on the open market as the only three teams that project to have anywhere close to max cap space are the Spurs, who are backcourt heavy, the Pistons and the Magic, where he doesn’t fit their timelines. There is a distinct lack of cap space as a whole, so it would have to be a sign and trade. It’s difficult seeing the Bulls wanting to support that as they’ve just turned the corner on a large rebuild and will likely want him in the fold long term.
Thunder say hi. Not that they’d be after him.
Sign and trade for Julius Randle? Who says no?
Hell no, Randle is rubbish
Only good for lottery teams on perpetual rebuilds
Everybody with a brain cbrook.
He’s DEFINITELY getting the max on the open market. Have y’all not been following recent NBA history? Have y’all not seen how great Zach has been the past few years? Multiple teams are gonna want him badly & they’re gonna do whatever possible to sign him
Can’t see how this doesn’t end up with him back in a Bulls uniform. Only a few teams have the space to outright sign him, most which wouldn’t be attractive situations, and I don’t see the Bulls taking pennies on the dollar in a sign and trade unless absolutely necessary. They built this team with him in mind and have they can go over the cap to resign him so it seems like a no brainer to pay the man. If worst comes to worst, history tells us both the team and player can almost always find a way out in a couple years.
I have to admit I was wrong last time when I didn’t want use to match the kings. Luckily this proved to be one of the few good contracts given by GarPax and retroactively makes Butler trade good for us (although markanen didn’t pan out for us)
Well done Zach
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Bulls let Zach walk but via a sign and trade. The Bulls need assets and cap room and this way Zach gets his money because the Bulls can pay him more than anybody else. Seems like a win-win for everybody involved. Bulls have a plethora of guard talent now.
Chi doesn’t have any guards even near Zach’s level unless you’re counting Derozan as a guard. With Zach they’re one of the best teams in the East. Without him they’d struggle to make the play-in. There’s zero doubt that Chicago will do everything possible to keep Zach LaVine. I mean that should be extremely obvious to anybody that has watched any Bulls games over the past few years. Zach may wanna leave tho
Bulls don’t really need anyone like him. They have a guy like him in Coby White who shoots just as well. He doesn’t have Zach’s hops but then with a bum knee, by the end of a max deal Zach won’t have Zach’s hops anymore either. The Bulls have their own 1st pick and maybe Portlands also, so with more assets and cap room could trade for another guard or sign one as a FA with cap room. Either way AK and Eversley have my confidence. The Bulls are doing OK without Ball, Caruso and Lavine so your point is meaningless.
You’re failing to understand a basic tenet of NBA basketball.. elite talent is what wins in this league. It’s not easy to acquire guys with Zach’s level of talent/production. Coby was a top10 pick & he’s talented, especially as a shooter but he’s not near Zach & doesn’t project to ever reach elite guard status like Zach has. Bulls could do “OK” without Zach next yr but they definitely won’t be contenders to win the East like they currently are with him. If you’re cool with being *OK” then let him walk. No competent franchise would do that tho. Bulls are gonna do everything up to & including begging to retain Zach. They traded Jimmy for him & he still managed to exceed expectations. The only real issue is on the other side of that coin. As I said before there’s a very real chance that Zach may go somewhere else. He has his choice of dam near any team in the league & it would be completely understandable if he chose to go back home to the Pac NW & sign with Portland & his Olympic teammate Dame or somewhere else. But from Chicago’s pov, they’d be insane to do anything but their best to retain him
This isn’t 2K…lol
Is anybody else worried about the fact that he’s talking about this right now rather than his upcoming playoff run? I feel like most stars would say something to the affect of “I’m excited to see what we can do as a team right now. I’ve never been to the playoffs and this team can be something special. I’ll worry about the contract in the off-season”
Yep. Major red flag. Ironic for a Bull lol
You’re criticizing this guy for answering a question about the culmination of all of the work he’s put in throughout his life smh. You dislike hearing about him reaping rewards personally & want 100% of the focus to be on the teams. Please at some point look inward & try to unravel why you identify so much closer with these exploitative companies than with these extremely talented humans. Zach is allowed to think about this extremely important time in his life that’s approaching & he should be allowed to talk about it publicly as well, especially when asked a direct question about it
A reporter asked him
I’m surprised there’s no Lakers fanboys thinking they’ll get him in a THT sign and trade or some crap like that….
Sounds like you think that’s a bad idea but you also wish someone would’ve said it? I swear I don’t understand humanity lol
Let’s just look at the list of 40 million dollar players shall we. Kawhli Leonard-hasn’t played all year. John Wall, His team doesn’t even want to risk playing him which is really dumb. Anthony Davis, Plays like 10% of the time. Westbrook, His coach doesn’t want to play him or want him on the team. Durant-injured again. Spending all that money means squat. I say spread it around and build a deep roster.
Let’s look at the list of teams who’ve won a ring without at least one of those max guys…
Milwaukee had Giannis, LA LeBron and AD, Toronto Kawhi, GSW Durant and Curry, Cleveland LeBron and Kyrie, San Antonio Duncan, Dallas Dirk, Boston KG, LA Kobe,
Pretty sure you’d have to go all the way back to Detroit in 2004 to find one— so while yes there’s a risk in signing a guy to a huge contract, it’s also true that teams don’t win rings building deep rosters.
Agree with everything except the last statement. Building a deep roster is also very important in team construction. Your overall point is spot on tho. Elite talent is necessary to win big in this league & elite talent costs
If you want to pay a guy 40 million a year to play just the playoffs feel free. I’d just say no thanks and be on my way. Lebron is one of the few guys worth it because he’s great and durable.
You’d be on your way alright. On your way straight to the play-in
That would depend on who I spent the savings on I would think. With 2 sharp guys here now like AK and Eversley, I’m not worried. If they want him here he will be. If not, I’m not sweating it. Nobody expected anything this year anyway. I bet you were one of the pathetic fools who said the Bulls were going to be 13th in the East this year right? You were only 12 places wrong so well played.
He can command a max deal. It doesn’t matter if he’s “worth it” by reference to a hypothetical max player. What matters is that if he’s not reupped prior to the FA opening, then he’ll be a 27 year old All Star in the UFA market. When was the last one? I don’t think CHI can afford him being the next.
AK-55 going into “win now” mode as relatively quickly as he did, starting with the Vucevic trade, was, in part, about not losing ZL to UFA, and moving further down the standings which ownership didn’t want. So, I can’t imagine CHI playing games here, I think they’ll pay him and get ahead of the market to do it. Anonymous GMs will express their shock. The world council of 2k’ers will call it an overpay. Bulls will hang their heads in shame, knowing their stuck with a team that can compete for the East title over the next couple of years.
Look I get it. That guy is like the president of the Lavine Fan Club. He can do no wrong. You people act like he’s the only guy in the league who can go for 25-5-5. This league is FULL of them. Jeremi Grant could go for 25-5-5 with the Bulls. Hell, he does it with the PISTONS. The league is full of Lavines, at a lower price than 40 mil a year.
What guy are you referring to? I’ve never been much of a fan of ZL, mostly because his defense has historically been poor and his offensive efficiency can disappear at times. But his diverse skill set, while not unique, is certainly not common around the league. Grant isn’t close (and, btw, he’ll be looking for something just south of max).
IMO, you may be missing two things. First, players (like most of us) don’t get paid what they’re worth, they get paid what they can command in the market. CHI has no ability to determine what ZL is going to get paid. Only whether to meet the market or bow out of it. Second, the NBA market for players is not a liquid one, nor are available salary slots fungible. Even if there are more guys like ZL in the league than most think, that doesn’t mean any of them will ever be available to CHI (let alone within their current window with DeRozan and Vucevic) at any price (let alone a lower one than ZL will get), or that CHI will have use of any amounts not paid to ZL for other players (not the way Stern World works).
What’s your team’s goal? A payroll that doesn’t include any overpays? Or giving the team the best chance to make a run at the trophy with the current window? Most teams would say the latter, and maybe that’s why the UFA pool hasn’t for many years included a 27 year old All Star.
Come back 2 wolves & let Ant play SF would be killer