ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recently provided some insight into the trade market for Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine, who had been rumored to be available for quite some time.
“Zach LaVine had 30 points in this game (against the Philadelphia 76ers) and he hit six 3s,” Windhorst said. “He is now averaging 22 points and shooting like 42, 43 percent on 3 this season, shooting 51 percent overall from the field. He’s having an excellent year. We know that he’s been on the trade block for a year now – at least.
“Yet, I hear nothing about LaVine in the trade market. And I don’t think it’s because the Bulls aren’t interested in trading him.”
LaVine’s contract may make it hard for the Bulls to find anyone willing to trade for him this season. LaVine is set to make over $43 million in the 2024-25 season and nearly $46 million in the 2025-26 season.
Then, the two-time All-Star has a player option for the 2026-27 season that is worth nearly $49 million. So, it may make it hard for teams to match his salary to make a trade work, or they may not want to make such a major financial commitment to the former lottery pick.
While he is playing well this season, LaVine was limited to just 25 games due to injury in the 2023-24 season. For a player that is nearing 30 years of age, LaVine may be considered a little bit of a risky investment given his recent injury history. Since playing 82 games in his second NBA season, LaVine has only one season (the 2022-23 campaign) where he’s played more than 70 games.
This season, LaVine is averaging 22.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 50.6 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from 3. He’s playing much better than he did last season when he averaged just 19.5 points per game while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from 3.
Despite LaVine’s strong play, the Bulls are still just the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 10-15 record. They’ve dropped two games in a row, and they’re just 4-6 in their last 10 matchups after losing to the 76ers in their last game.
If the Bulls are unable to trade LaVine, it’ll be interesting to see how much he factors into their future plans, especially since they’re on the fringe of the play-in tournament picture at this point in the 2024-25 campaign.
