Zach LaVine

Eastern Notes: LaVine, Bulls, Heat, Wizards

September 13th, 2024 at 7:58pm CST by Rory Maher

Two-time All-Star Zach LaVine was one of the first players to return to the Bulls for workouts this month at their practice facility, the Advocate Center, tweets K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Sports Network. According to Johnson, the majority of the team’s roster has been present for workouts ahead of training camp.

LaVine, who has been the subject of trade rumors for well over a year, was limited to just 25 games last season due to a foot injury, which required surgery. The 29-year-old is owed $138MM over the next three seasons, including a $49MM player option in 2026/27.

Here are a few more notes from the Eastern Conference:

Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune poses five questions facing the Bulls prior to training camp, which begins Oct. 1. In addition to pondering what it will take to move LaVine, Poe also wonders if head of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas is on the hot seat after the team failed to make the playoffs the past two seasons and then lost DeMar DeRozan in a sign-and-trade for a minimal return.
On Wednesday, the Heat signed Bryson Warren and Malik Williams to Exhibit 10 contracts. On Thursday, both players were waived. Free agent guard Caleb Daniels is also expected to be signed-and-waived by Miami in the coming days, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. The procedural move would allow Daniels to earn a bonus worth up to $77.5K — on top of his NBA G League salary — if he spends at least 60 days with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat’s NBAGL affiliate. Daniels, 25, went undrafted in 2023 out of Villanova. After signing an Exhibit 10 deal with Miami last summer and subsequently being waived, he spent his first professional season with the Skyforce, appearing in 47 games (30.1 MPG) while averaging 12.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 2.2 APG on .429/.368/.841 shooting.
The Wizards were the worst rebounding team in the NBA in 2023/24. They should be better in that category in ’24/25 after adding Jonas Valanciunas and Alex Sarr, among other players, writes Chase Hughes of The Monumental Sports Network. Valanciunas has been one of the league’s best rebounders on a per-minute basis for most of his career.

Central Notes: Stewart, LaVine, Sheppard, Walker, Mathurin

September 8th, 2024 at 12:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Isaiah Stewart‘s role under new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is among the questions facing the Pistons as they prepare for training camp, writes Keith Langlois of NBA.com. Stewart played nearly all his minutes at center during his first two NBA seasons, but that changed when the team added Jalen Duren in 2022. Langlois notes that Stewart was used at power forward 75% of the time last season, but his primary position is less certain than ever with a revamped roster.

Other than Stewart and Duren, offseason addition Paul Reed is Detroit’s only player who projects as a center. The Pistons claimed the four-year veteran after the Sixers waived him in July. Reed has shown promise backing up Joel Embiid in Philadelphia.

Detroit also added ex-Sixer Tobias Harris in free agency, and Langlois notes that he and Simone Fontecchio are examples of modern stretch fours. It’s possible that Bickerstaff could choose to dedicate the power forward minutes to those two proven three-point shooters, leaving Stewart to battle for playing time in the middle.

There’s more from the Central Division:

Mending fences with Zach LaVine should be one of the priorities for the Bulls as they get ready for camp, observes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. The front office began trying to trade LaVine last fall in what was hoped to be the first step of a roster makeover. However, his massive contract and injury history doomed trade efforts and forced the team to keep him. LaVine is still owed $138MM over the next three years, so the Bulls need to build up his trade value ahead of the February deadline. Cowley states that coach Billy Donovan took the first step toward mending their relationship when he visited LaVine in Los Angeles this summer.
With their roster virtually set for the upcoming season, the Pacers are facing three option decisions that should be easy, per Tony East of Sports Illustrated. Indiana has until October 31 to pick up the third-year options for Ben Sheppard and Jarace Walker, along with the fourth-year option for Bennedict Mathurin. All three players appear to be part of the team’s future, so there’s no reason to part with any of them. The options would pay Sheppard $2.8MM, Walker $6.6MM and Mathurin $9.1MM for the 2025/26 season.
The Pacers announced in a press release that they have added Dr. Jaimie Rubin as Director of Sport Psychology and Team Wellness.

Nikola Vucevic Talks Future, Trade Rumors, LaVine, More

September 6th, 2024 at 1:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein (Substack link) at Goran Dragic‘s farewell game in Slovenia recently, Bulls center Nikola Vucevic clarified his recent comments about wanting to play for four more seasons.

“I think that kind of came out wrong. It wasn’t that I want to play four more years. It was just more so that … they were asking me, like, am I thinking about retirement? I was just like, ‘Retiring?’ In my mind I have at least four more years and then I want to see from there what I can do,” Vucevic said. “But it came out as, like, I want to play four more years.

“I have two more years in this contract (with the Bulls). And hopefully I’m able to get two more after that, which will take me to 37. And at that time, I’ll have to see what I would like to do. This is more so four years of me being at a high level. Maybe in two years I’ll say four more. I said it in the moment; I didn’t think it’d turn into such a big thing.”

Vucevic, who has been with the Bulls since 2021, was the subject of trade rumors this offseason, but no deal materialized. It’s possible that will change before the season begins, but for now he projects to be Chicago’s starting center on opening night.

In his conversation with Stein, Vucevic discussed how he handles those trade rumors, the Bulls’ potential for 2024/25, Lonzo Ball‘s comeback chances, DeMar DeRozan‘s departure, his dip in three-point efficiency, and several other topics.

The interview is worth reading in full if you’re a subscriber to Stein’s Substack, but here are a few more highlights:

On dealing with trade rumors:

“I’m used to it at this point. Since I’ve been with the Bulls, I’ve been in a lot of trade stories, especially last summer as well throughout last season. So it’s just part of it. If things were going well and we’re winning and everything was great, that wouldn’t be the case. But because things weren’t going that well, we weren’t winning and we weren’t achieving our goals, then obviously change is bound to happen.

“Honestly, I know it’s a pretty basic answer, but you don’t have much control over it, so you kind of just wait and see. If they decide to change and trade me, it’s on them to do. Just like a year and a half ago I was a free agent and I could have chosen to go elsewhere. … I chose to stay and I felt like we had something to prove and unfortunately we didn’t do it. But now it’s a new team and I’m excited to play with these younger guys and I think we can play better than people think.”

On what he expects from Zach LaVine after a down year in 2023/24:

“I spoke to him a couple of times over the summer. He’s good health-wise. I think he’s in a good place mentally. I’m sure, knowing him, he’ll come back motivated to show that he’s still a great player — that maybe he kind of had a weird year last year with the injury and everything. I think he’s motivated to show people that it was just one season and that he’s a really good player.”

On the impact of DeRozan’s offseason exit:

“It’ll definitely be a little bit of an adjustment just because obviously we all know what he brought to us on the court. But I think also just his presence in general. DeMar was really liked and obviously very well respected in the locker room … kind of the guy that everybody gravitated towards and was always the storyteller of all these veteran stories and all these things and the young guys really gravitated towards that.”

Pacific Notes: Lakers, LaVine, Zubac, Suns

September 5th, 2024 at 5:44pm CST by Tristan Tucker

As has been covered at length this summer, the Lakers‘ only outside additions to their standard roster this offseason came in the form of draftees Dalton Knecht and Bronny James.

“They’re stuck,” one Eastern Conference executive said of the Lakers, according to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times.

A Western Conference executive who spoke to Woike said the Lakers should consider adding Bulls guard Zach LaVine, who has been the subject of trade rumors for quite some time. LaVine’s contract (he’s owed nearly $138MM over the next three seasons, including a 2026/27 player option) has been a holdup in getting a deal done. If the Lakers were to pursue such a trade, Woike points out that it would have to be constructed around D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura and either Jarred Vanderbilt or Gabe Vincent to match salary since L.A. can’t take in more than it sends out.

The downside would be LaVine’s injury concerns and his questionable fit in a role that would require more from him on defense and less on offense. However, Woike doesn’t get the sense the Lakers are all that interested in LaVine, suggesting that they’re more concerned with seeing how a roster with more continuity performs. Additionally, Woike reasons the Bulls could stand to hold LaVine and try to rebuild his value this season.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Clippers center Ivica Zubac received a 5% trade kicker as part of his three-year extension, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter link). That means if Zubac is traded, he’d be eligible for a bonus worth 5% of the remaining salary on his contract. The highest percentage allowed on a trade kicker is 15%.
Despite being one of the most efficient three-point shooting teams in the league, the Suns only ranked 25th in attempts, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports writes. That should change in 2024/25, with Tyus Jones, Monte Morris and a healthy Damion Lee among players who could help in that regard. Bourguet runs through several statistical red flags the Suns should look to address under Mike Budenholzer, including how they attack the rim and playing more in transition.
In a similar article for PHNX Sports (subscriber link), Bourguet outlines one area for improvement for every player on the Suns‘ roster, excluding rookies and two-way players. For my money, it’ll be interesting to see how Bradley Beal continues to adapt to being an off-ball third option. His scoring decreased last season (to 18.2 PPG) as he played fewer than 60 games for the third straight season. If he’s fully healthy, it will be intriguing to see if he can resemble the form of the player who recorded back-to-back 30 PPG seasons from 2019-21.

Central Notes: Horton-Tucker, Bulls, Bucks, Pistons

September 5th, 2024 at 1:08pm CST by Rory Maher

Free agent guard Talen Horton-Tucker will reportedly be signing with his hometown Bulls. According to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, the five-year veteran will sign an Exhibit 10 deal for training camp.

Shams Charania of The Athletic, who broke the news of both deals, said that Horton-Tucker and Mac McClung (Magic) received partially guaranteed contracts. From the players’ perspective, that’s not wrong in a sense — the Exhibit 10 language in their contracts makes them eligible for a bonus worth $77.5K (on top of their G League salaries) if they’re waived and spend at least 60 days with their clubs’ NBAGL affiliates.

It is misleading though, because for NBA teams, Exhibit 10 deals are one-year, minimum-salary contracts that are non-guaranteed. For example, if Horton-Tucker is immediately cut after the deal is official, the Bulls won’t carry any dead money toward the salary cap. That’s different than a player like Keon Johnson — if the Nets waive him today for whatever reason, they would owe him his full $250K partial guarantee while carrying an identical dead-money cap hit for 2024/25.

Here’s more from the Central:

In another story for NBC Sports Chicago, Johnson attempts to predict the Bulls‘ starting lineup and rotation. Despite the obvious defensive shortcomings, Johnson believes Josh Giddey, Coby White, Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams and Nikola Vucevic is the “most logical” outcome for the starting five. However, only Ayo Dosunmu and free agent addition Jalen Smith seem like locks for rotation minutes off the bench, per Johnson.
Eric Nehm of The Athletic answers mailbag questions related to the Bucks, including whether they should reduce Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s workload during the upcoming season to try to keep him fresh ahead of a potential playoff run. Nehm also examines whether Taurean Prince could be used at power forward in small-ball lineups featuring Antetokounmpo at center.
Will the Pistons carry a 15th player on their standard roster to open the season? What about their remaining cap room — will they use it before the season starts or carry it over until the trade deadline? Keith Langlois of Pistons.com explores those questions.

Warriors Showing No Interest In Brandon Ingram, Zach LaVine

August 6th, 2024 at 10:43pm CST by Tristan Tucker

After not acquiring Lauri Markkanen from the Jazz, the Warriors are reportedly not currently showing interest in vying for the services of either Brandon Ingram of the Pelicans or Zach LaVine of the Bulls, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Tony Jones and Anthony Slater.

Even though the Warriors didn’t land either of their high-profile targets of the offseason after also striking out on Paul George, they aren’t panicking. They’re reportedly comfortable entering the season with their current 14-man group.

Both Ingram and LaVine have experienced limited trad markets this offseason, primarily due to their contract situations. LaVine has three years and approximately $138MM left on his deal, while Ingram – who is on an expiring $36MM contract – appears to be seeking a lucrative long-term extension.

The Warriors lost Klay Thompson this offseason but added De’Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson and Lindy Waters. They also held firm on their refusal to include Brandin Podziemski in any potential trade for Markkanen, so they’ll be counting on him and fellow young players Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and Trayce Jackson-Davis to continue to develop.

Golden State viewed Markkanen as a terrific fit due to his age and contract situation, but now that he’s on track to renegotiate and extend his contract with Utah, they know he’ll be unavailable until at least the 2025 offseason and will continue to evaluate their roster, per The Athletic.

Owning all but one of their future first-rounders (with the exception of a heavily protected 2030 pick) alongside their young players makes the Warriors a threat to pull off a blockbuster at any point of the season, and they’ll look to be buyers up to the February trade deadline.

Until then, the Warriors may seek smaller-scale trades through August and September more actively than what is typical from NBA teams, according to The Athletic’s report.

Bulls Reportedly Still Trying To Trade LaVine, Vucevic

August 4th, 2024 at 11:29am CST by Rory Maher

Marc Stein reported a couple weeks ago that while Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic remain trade candidates, it appears increasingly likely that both players will open the 2024/25 season as Bulls.

Apparently it isn’t for lack of effort from the front office though. According to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, head of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas continues to actively explore deals for the former All-Stars, but obviously the team hasn’t found anything suitable to this point.

LaVine is owed about $138MM over the next three seasons (including a $49MM player option for 2026/27), while Vucevic will earn $41MM through 2026. That salary differential is one reason why Vucevic is viewed as more likely to be moved than LaVine, though Stein wrote that a trade for the 33-year-old big man might not come together until after the season begins.

Cowley’s article is mostly focused on the Bulls’ rotation, which will be difficult for head coach Billy Donovan to manage if the roster remains intact. As Cowley writes, the backcourt, in particular, could be problematic, with Josh Giddey, LaVine and Coby White — three offense-first guards — seemingly likely to start, with Patrick Williams and Vucevic rounding out the first five.

Ayo Dosunmu, Dalen Terry, Jevon Carter, and perhaps even Lonzo Ball will be among the guards off the bench, Cowley notes, further illustrating the rotational dilemma Donovan could face this fall.

Bulls Notes: Offseason, Giddey Deal, DeRozan, LaVine, Donovan

July 31st, 2024 at 10:08am CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls entered the 2024 offseason recognizing that major roster changes were necessary, with president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas telling members of his staff that the team needed to have a summer like 2021, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN.

Unlike in 2021, when the club added a pair of win-now veterans – DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball – in sign-and-trade deals, Chicago focused this offseason on younger players, acquiring 21-year-old guard Josh Giddey, adding 24-year-old big man Jalen Smith in free agency, re-signing 22-year-old restricted free agent Patrick Williams, and drafting 19-year-old forward Matas Buzelis.

“We’ve gone young,” general manager Marc Eversley told Collier. “We’ve got players who are experienced and give us a greater opportunity to have a longer runway for sustainability to winning meaningful games for a longer time.”

Despite their focus on accumulating younger talent, the Bulls haven’t fully hit the reset button, with veterans like Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic still on the roster. So is the goal for the 2024/25 season getting back to the playoffs or beginning a rebuild? Eversley dismissed the idea that Chicago will bottom out, but also acknowledged the team isn’t exactly in win-now mode.

“We’re not so focused on being a top-six seed or being in the play-in,” Eversley said. “We’re focusing on developing this group every single day and see how much better they can get over the next year.”

Here’s more on the Bulls:

If Chicago were committed to fully rebuilding, the front office may have been more inclined to trade Alex Caruso for draft assets instead of Giddey, a three-year veteran who is up for a rookie scale extension this offseason. But the Bulls weren’t just looking to sell off vets for future assets, per Eversley. “There’s no appetite in our building to go young and just blow it all up,” the GM told Collier. “We’ve gone young. We’ve got players who are experienced and give us a greater opportunity to have a longer runway for sustainability to winning meaningful games for a longer time. I don’t want to, a year from now, [be] winning 15 games and focusing on the lottery. We have an opportunity here to roll out younger players who give us an opportunity to turn this thing around, maybe not quicker, but in a more pragmatic approach than just looking at the future and building through the draft.”
The Bulls and DeRozan consistently expressed mutual interest in continuing their relationship leading up to the offseason, but once the team’s new direction became clear, the two sides never came close to reaching an agreement on a new contract, sources tell ESPN. “I love DeMar. He was terrific for our organization the last three years,” Eversley said. “But I don’t think we were in a position to deliver what he was looking for going forward. He wants to win. He deserves an opportunity to win at a really high level. And arguably, we’re not in that situation right now. As much as it hurt to let him go, I’m extremely happy for him.”
There has been some tension between LaVine and the Bulls over the past year, according to Collier, who cites LaVine’s interest in a trade and his decision to undergo season-ending surgery in February as two factors that rubbed the team the wrong way. According to Collier, LaVine letting the Bulls know he was open to being dealt “irked” Karnisovas because it suggested he wasn’t committed to sticking with the team — that gripe seems unfair to me, given that Chicago had already discussed LaVine in trade talks before that.
LaVine and head coach Billy Donovan have also clashed over the years, Collier writes, though Donovan flew to Los Angeles this month to spend some time with the star guard and the feedback from that visit has been positive. According to Collier, LaVine has felt in the past as if he’s been singled out during film sessions and disproportionately blamed for losses, while Donovan believes he’s simply trying to get the 29-year-old to adopt a more team-friendly playing style.
The expectation at this point is that LaVine will open the season with the Bulls, though a split still seems likely at some point. LaVine could improve his trade value by buying into Donovan’s vision for him, a team source tells Collier. “He’s never won, he’s done it his way the whole way and never won,” that source said. “If he’s interested in winning, he’ll do what’s asked of him. And if he’s motivated to not be here, one way is to come, be compliant and be who he is.”

Stein’s Latest: LaVine, Vucevic, Nembhard, Morris, C. Jones, More

July 26th, 2024 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams

While Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic remain trade candidates, it appears increasingly likely that both players will open the 2024/25 season as Bulls, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack story.

League sources tell Stein that the Bulls are “resigned” to the fact that they’re unlikely to find a deal they like for LaVine before opening night and may have to try to help him rebuild some trade value early in the season.

As for Vucevic, his contract (two years for about $41MM) should be easier to move than LaVine’s, but the expectation is that it will be easier for Chicago to find a deal sometime after the season begins than before that, Stein explains.

Here are a few more items from within Stein’s latest look around the NBA:

According to Stein’s sources, Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard was only willing to accept a three-year extension from Indiana rather than a four-year deal. The contract will put Nembhard in position to sign his next contract in 2028 when he’s 28 and presumably right in his prime.
The Mavericks remain committed to re-signing forward Markieff Morris, even after filling their 15-man roster by adding Spencer Dinwiddie, Stein reports. As Stein observes, A.J. Lawson is the most vulnerable of the 15 players on standard contracts, since his 2024/25 salary is non-guaranteed.
Former NBA guard Carlik Jones, a key member of the South Sudan Olympic team, is committed to playing for KK Partizan next season after not exercising his NBA out by the July 25 deadline, according to Stein, who notes that Donta Hall‘s new two-year contract with Baskonia has an NBA out after the 2024/25 season.
Evan Fournier and Patty Mills, who finished last season on NBA rosters but don’t have contracts for 2024/25, are among the notable free agents to watch at the Olympics, according to Stein. Stein is also curious about whether a strong showing from Nets guard Dennis Schröder in Paris could help boost his trade value as the German enters a contract year.

Central Notes: Trent, LaVine, Donovan, Harris, Holland

July 17th, 2024 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Gary Trent Jr. had multiyear offers worth approximately the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception ($5.2MM) on the table in free agency, league sources tell Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. However, the 25-year-old swingman ultimately decided to accept a one-year, minimum-salary offer from the Bucks in order to reunite with former teammate Damian Lillard and contend for a title in Milwaukee.

Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, who had a preexisting relationship with Trent through his father (Gary Trent Sr.), flew to Miami earlier this month to help recruit the free agent wing to Milwaukee, according to Jamal Collier of ESPN.com.

While Trent’s three-point numbers last season (2.5 per game on 39.3% shooting) fell a little shy of Malik Beasley‘s marks (2.8 makes on 41.3% shooting), Eric Nehm of The Athletic believes there’s reason to believe the newcomer can boost those stats even further when sharing the floor with stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lillard.

As Nehm writes, Trent also isn’t just a catch-and-shoot player — he has the ability to put the ball on the floor a little and attack closeouts on offense. And while he’s not the most consistent defender, Trent has had his moments on that end of the floor and should benefit from having Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez protecting the rim behind him.

Here’s more from around the Central:

A source who spoke to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times referred to DeMar DeRozan as someone who has acted as a “buffer” between Bulls head coach Billy Donovan and star guard Zach LaVine for the past three seasons. According to that source, with DeRozan no longer around, the team would risk a “dysfunctional” locker room next season if it brings back LaVine.
After signing a two-year, $52MM contract with the Pistons earlier this month, veteran forward Tobias Harris said his biggest goal for the coming season is to “be the best leader I can be for this group” and trying to help his younger teammates reach their full potential, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “I’m going into year 14,” Harris said on Tuesday’s Summer League broadcast on NBA TV. “I’ve had a lot of experience in this league and one of the most satisfying things is seeing the young guys come up for us to figure out how good we can be as a group and have the best type of team chemistry and flow for us.”
Speaking to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Pistons rookie Ron Holland discussed his Summer League experience, his goals for his rookie season, and the NBA players he wants to model his game after (including Mikal Bridges and Jaylen Brown). Meanwhile, Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press takes a look at what Holland has shown in his Summer League games so far, noting that the 19-year-old’s impressive tools and his room for growth have both been on display.

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