The three-team deal that will send Zach LaVine to Sacramento could be the start of an active stretch for the Bulls before Thursday’s deadline, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Parting with LaVine indicates that vice president Arturas Karnisovas is now fully committed to rebuilding, which means veteran center Nikola Vucevic and a few others could be heading out next.
Cowley reveals that Vucevic thought he had already been traded when he woke up Sunday morning and found his phone filled with text messages. They all turned out to be about the shocking deal that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers.
“I went early to bed; I’m 34, you gotta go to bed earlier,” Vucevic said. “I woke up, and I had, like, 50 messages. I was like, ‘Oh, where am I going?’’’
Cowley notes that the Doncic trade creates a major opportunity for the Bulls to move Vucevic. With Anthony Davis gone from L.A., the team needs help in the middle and may be a logical destination for Vucevic, who is having one of the best offensive seasons of his career.
“I don’t play the linked game much,” Vucevic said. “I don’t really get involved with that too much. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a more interesting answer. You never know. Things happen. But I don’t think anyone in the world knew this trade was going to happen besides [Mavericks general manager] Nico Harrison and [Lakers GM] Rob Pelinka, and it happened. I’m focused on what I can control.”
There’s more on the Bulls:
- A source tells Cowley that more trades are expected this week as the front office tries to remake the roster. He reports that Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley both returned to Chicago after road games over the past week to plot the team’s deadline strategy. Before the Doncic or LaVine deals were reported, one player told Cowley that this year’s deadline feels different, indicating that the locker room is bracing for major changes.
- Because they’re taking back three players and only sending out one, the Bulls will have to open up two roster spots before the LaVine trade can be finalized. Cowley reports that the team is trying to trade Torrey Craig and Chris Duarte, but isn’t finding much interest and may have to place them on waivers.
- While Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins and Tre Jones seems like a meager return for LaVine, who was putting up huge scoring numbers, Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune says the trade should be judged in context. The Bulls tried for more than a year to find a taker for LaVine, and parting with the nearly $95MM he’s owed over the next two seasons will give them much more financial flexibility. From Chicago’s standpoint, the key to the deal was getting back full control of this year’s first-round pick from the Spurs. Poe notes that rebuilding teams need all the draft assets they can get, but adds that the franchise shouldn’t be in this position after giving up the pick on a protected basis when it acquired DeMar DeRozan from San Antonio in 2022.
- In a separate story, Cowley talks to Julian Phillips about his reduced playing time after coach Billy Donovan recently shook up his rotation. The second-year small forward had been seeing regular minutes earlier in the season. “It hasn’t been frustrating for me,” Phillips said. “You kind of have to go with what the team thinks is best. And whatever that is from a coaching standpoint, it’s what it’s going to be, so I can only do the best I can to stay ready whenever I do get that opportunity.”
Vu to GSW
Zo to Lakers
Giddey/White/Polio/Buzelis/Collins – This should be your starting 5 post deadline before any other players are incoming. Then Ayo/Jalen Smith/Huerter/Phillips should get majority of the bench minutes. Adding whatever you get for Vu and Zo will obviously change the rotation plans but the key thing is they shipped out Lavine’s deal and took back 100% ownership of their own pick. They face the following teams until Feb 28th and don’t appear to be favored in any of them. Miami/Minnesota/GSW/Detroit (back to back), NYK, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Clippers. They are only 1 game behind for 7th spot which isn’t hard to obtain at the moment. The rest of the schedule looks bleak, I had this team 30-52 this year and it looks like I see maybe another 6-8 wins rest of the year, which would project us around 27-55 or 28-54 possibly a top 5 pick depends on how Brooklyn and Toronto finish. I would target Edgecome if he is available or Tre Johnson who has good size and can score on his own. Also with the Collins/Huerter deals both are expiring next year so they can attach either for a better 1st rounder for 2026/2027 drafts. I’m not sold on AKME getting this done correctly but I do see the vision that most of us were crying about since end of 2023 season. I’m just glad it finally has started to come into fruition.
The Bulls should be able to get a 1st round pick for Vuj. Hopefully they can get at least a player and a 2nd for Lonzo. They are owed a 1st round pick from Portland that they obtained from Detroit for Markkanen. A clever FO should be able to work that into a trade for some better conditions in a trade since it’s good until 2028 when it converts into a 2nd rounder( Which is stupid also IMO). So there is talk of maybe getting a 1st if they deal Coby White. I don’t know what happened to Heurter but I remember him being a deadly shooter so his fall from grace is curious to me. Anyway they have year to figure out if Heurter and Collins are any use at all. I doubt they can move either of them by Thursday but this summer should be doable
as they’ll both be on expiring deals. Anyway financial flexibility is the goal. And with the biggest problem now in the rear view, The sky is the limit. Anybody should be traded if it brings back young talent or draft picks. Hopefully the Bulls management doesn’t make the same stupid mistake with Giddey that they made with Williams and lets the league set the market and doesn’t give him a big extension just because they will be able to.
Mike, 100% spot on with everything you said. The Blazers pick conveyed into a 2nd round by 2028 is stupid. Absolutely limits teams who want to conduct business and trades. I think getting a 2nd for Zo will be a no brainer but I think they are being asked to get a guy back for next year which is probably the reason Zo hasn’t been traded yet. Vu I think could fetch us a late 1st this year but I rather have a 2026 1st next year. It all depends on which team we trade Vu too and how desperate they are. I agree with you on financial flexibility. Absolutely zero reason to invest on guys that are apart of a 30 win at best team this year and next. Coby/Polio/Giddey/Jalen Smith all can head out. I would keep Phillips and Buzelis that’s it. Collins and Huerter probably will be a part of a package next year for a 1st for 2026 if they include either Ayo or Coby in the deal. Good analysis all around by you as always.
Chicago could have got back full control of this year’s first-round pick by just losing enough games. And this is exactly what they are going to do after trading Lavine. They should have got a different pick in that trade.
Who says they didn’t try? I mean it’s better than anything the Kings received for them trading Fox. Hornets pick won’t be conveyed this year, and Spurs 2027 pick will be 20-30 because they’ll only continue to get better. The 2031 Wolves pick might not even end up being used by them too. They still have Lavine $46M next year and $45M the following year and he’ll be 31 in his last year. So good luck to them.
The kings got an all star, 3 first round picks that are spread out and 3 seconds and you think the bulls got the best deal because they got back a pick they could’ve just tanked to keep…as a bulls fan I cannot stand bulls fans, our scumbag executives lost the benefit of the doubt in 98
I never said they Bulls got the best deal???? I said this is the best deal based on Lavine’s contract. Where did I say this was a great trade? I gave this trade a C+ to a B-. If they had taken back 2nds like they were projected to do earlier in the year then I would have flipped out. Sheesh.
And like wise I cannot stand Bulls fans who expect the moon and act like Lavine was a top 15 player and expect a Mikal Bridges type return when his value has diminished significantly.
Otogar- You keep making that point that the Bulls could have ” Kept” The pick. Yeah, They could have kept it ” This year” But would have had to lose a 1st round pick down the road. This way they keep ALL their first round picks for the near future. Which isn’t a bad outlook when you consider some teams don’t have a 1st round pick UNTIL 2031. Those conditions have stupid consequences and IMO should be banned from being included in trades. You trade it or you don’t. The conditions are stupid.
Not necessarily. The pick was top-8 protected in 2026 and 2027, then it would have turned into a 2028 second pick. Since the Bulls are going to rebuild, there’s a reasonable chance they would have kept all their picks anyway.
Raz , I’m looking at the deal from the outside, so please forgive any oversight, but it sure looks like the worst deal in recent memory.
First, the Bulls should have been tanking this whole season. (The fact that Lavine is being traded for the future proves irrefutably that they are not trying to make the playoffs.) So, there should never have been a reason to trade away value to “assure” they would have this pick even if they finished better than 10th worst – an embarrassing statement of incompetence.
Second, the Bulls exchanged Lavine for NEGATIVE $35M/y,r for 2 years ($70M in total)! Lavine’s contract may be pricey, but he’s a borderline All-Star. He’s worth something significant in return.
Huerter’s and Collins’s are 2 of the currently 10 worst NBA contracts. They’re 2 players that have no business playing 1 minute for a rebuilding team. San Antonio and Sacramento have been trying to dump these guys since June. They’re $4M/yr players, not $18M/yr players. (BTW, Collins will never be a starting NBA center.)
In truth, the Bulls deserved a low first round pick from the Spurs/Kings for assuming the $70M of bad Huerter and Collins contracts. Instead, the Bulls not only got nothing of value in return, but also gave away Lavine, their most valuable asset, in the process.
I fail to see a single positive effect of this trade, other than it being such an extreme sign of incompetence that it should result in the termination of the current front office.
Lavine would no doubt be exercising his player option at 31 years old and $48.9M. I see your opinion of Huerter and Collins but we needed someone like Collins to begin with. They have virtually no size outside of Vu. Collins has had injury history early in his career to the league view on him is below average at best. I do think if you are going to commit to a FULL rebuild, you need to fire Donovan during the All Star Break with zero regrets. This team did not get better while he was the head coach even with Demar/Vu and Lavine. Nobody got better as a young player. Polio is still a problem and Coby is the only guy who got better mainly because he went to the gym and worked on his shooting and playmaking during the summer of 2023. Billy Donovan doesn’t deserve to be around for this rebuild, then again that’s the same sentiment for AKME and 95% of this roster.
How do you figure the Bulls took on 70 million? That’s a flat out lie. They are owed a half a season this year which is less than the half they would have paid LaVine. Next year they owe them 36 million while saving 50 million for the next 2 years for LaVine. Math isn’t a strong suit huh?
UncleMike- you misrepresent me.
Lavine is now gone. I was talking specifically about the Bulls assuming the 2 bad contracts of Collins and Huerter, and how those sit on the books going forward (post-Lavine) at $35M/yr for the next 2 years. You can pro-rate by partial season as you wish.
These 2 “negative” contracts have different properties than the Lavine contract, which, as of this season, had positive economic value and, so, was movable. No NBA team wants the Collins and Huerter contracts. Neither should be getting playing time for a rebuilding team.
The Collins contract at $17M is dramatically inferior to the Vucevic one at $20M. Collins’s contract can’t be moved without attaching other positive assets to it, whereas Vucevic’s can. Collins will never be an NBA starter and has poor availability, yet makes $17M. At $20M/yr, Vucivic is a good value as a starting C for a few NBA teams.
The bulls are over the roster by two spots after the trade. They will need to dump at least two guys by the deadline
I’m hoping someone is dumb enough Dalon Terry off this team.
Another famous Bulls SG who was drafted that can’t shoot. Awesome pick. Someday I’ll have to go back and look at that draft and see all the PF’s they passed on to make that pick.
Walker Kessler and Christian Braun were the picks immediately after him. LMAO
link to en.wikipedia.org
Thanks. Bulls already had 6 Guards when they made that pick and just Williams as a PF with no power. Either of those guys would look nice here now. Actually if the Bulls move Vuj, Smith and Collins might at least make up for some of the loss. Next year they can figure out a C and PF. Smith isn’t any more than a reserve at best. He hasn’t been very durable. He’s been having knee trouble. Now might be a good time to sign a guy like Bamba and get Smith’s knee fixed so he’s good to go next year. But that would take forward thinking and we don’t do that here.
Would you do John Collins ($26M) for Patrick Williams ($18M) and Ayo ($7.5M) with a sweetener of a possible 2nd round pick 2028 pick? Gives us John Collins for $26M player option next year and he’s vastly underrated and would possibly fetch us a 1st next year?
Patrick Williams and Ayo will both likely be part of the rebuild. The “rebuild” will be called a “retool” if AK keeps his job. The Indiana University job will be available for Billy Donovan after being fired at the end of the season. No way you can bring him back. No reason to take a bag of balls for Williams at the point with his age. Ayo is young and on a favorable deal. Ayo was born and raised in Chicago, and very well liked. Ayo is just a 1st class human being. Ayo and Williams are likely starters with the rebuild.
Patrick Williams shouldn’t be part of anything and Ayo is a nice piece and I like him but is basically a great B/U player. Neither should be considered unmovable. And if it was me Raz I’d be shooting higher than John Collins.
Sheldon- Shouldn’t be a problem. There’s plenty of dead weight here to just dump if all else fails.
They need to dump two guys immediately. This trade can’t be finalized until they do so.
“Billy Donovan’s record as the Chicago Bulls coach is 177–191 in the regular season. The Bulls have had only one winning season and one playoff win during Donovan’s tenure.”
Donovan had the most and best talent in OKC. Never won anything. Has done absolutely nothing in Chicago. Why is he still here.
Warriors should be negotiating for Vucevic. He fits their team well imo.
Al- I’ve been saying that about Donovan for a few years now and as usual got vilified for saying it. Now everybody is agreeing with me. I said giving LaVine a max extension was stupid. Got vilified for that. People should just start agreeing with me.
Very true statements. I have become a very casual fan due to all the losing but the Lavine extension seemed shockingly dumb at the time…then they gave that $90 mil extension to Williams. WHY? Cleaning house is long overdue but needs to include the front office. Reinsdorf needs to sell the team.
Though paying Williams that money was very stupid when they didn’t have to, It wasn’t franchise paralyzing like LaVine’s was. People don’t get yet that the prize in this deal was saving 100 million over the next 2 years and getting the flexibility to do something with it. If the Bulls can lose Vuj and with Lonzo coming off too that’s like 90 million in savings while taking on just 36 million in Huerter and Collins. And they might be able to move them next summer and save it all making like 126 million available next year. Making them players in FA in a cash strapped league. Bulls got fleeced? I say not really. Yeah paying Williams 18 million a year isn’t smart, It’s not preventing improvement. Al’s opinion of Williams notwithstanding, Yeah Williams had a good game a while but that’s it. Then he disappears for 2 weeks. Markkanen has been less than exceptional for a while now also. but he was misused here also. Williams is just lame in general.
Someone should steal Williams. And watch him blossom away from Bulls —- Just like Markkennen did. Cavs ????? wake up.
I vote Knicks.
Vuc is a good offensive center, but he’d make the D in LA far worse, They need a rim protector, not a jump shooter,
For how bad people rag on the Sixers… the Bulls essentially traded Caruso, LaVine, and DeRozan for Josh Giddey, a couple SRPs, a projected late FRP from the Spurs and another projected late FRP from the Wolves.
Not too shabby, give that GM an extension.
You are giving them too much credit. Those first rounders you mentioned are going to the Kings not the Bulls. Also anyone claiming to have any idea what that Minny pick will be is lying, it’s a 2031 pick.