The question of the off-season for Bulls fans, should the Bulls max Lavine? The timing of the contract makes it especially tough given that Chicago has laid groundwork for an attempt at a win-now team. This team when healthy has the potential to make a run, but what direction are the Bulls headed? There are some holes in this team that need addressed, and doing so may cause a domino effect, allowing the clouds to pass and the vision for the future to be more clear, but for now there are question marks, and Zach Lavine is a big one.
Looking at this list of players does not make me any more confident in signing Lavine to the max. I have been wracking my brain about this for months and keep coming to the conclusion that he’s not worth max money, but paying him is better than the alternative. It feels like settling. Luka Doncic is up for a contract this year as well, that’s a no-brainer. Pay the man, he’s the cornerstone of your franchise. But what is Zach Lavine to the Bulls? He’s no Luka Doncic, that’s for sure. DeMar isn’t going to be around forever, and Lavine has not shown the ability to be “the guy” on a winning team. He’s planning on having surgery on his knee this off-season which is cause for even more concern. He’s athletically gifted, has a decent 3 point shot, finishes well around the rim, but otherwise he doesn’t do anything to make you believe he can be the leader on the team. He get’s tunnel vision and all season seemed to defer to DeRozan when a clutch shot was needed. All these red flags and yet, what other choice do we have with the way this team is currently constructed?
There are a lot of names on that list that concern me:
John Wall – $47,366,760 – how much value is he bringing that Rockets team? Do you know how many games he played in in 2021-2022? The answer is 0. He’s not injured, he just didn’t play.
Russell Westbrook – $47,063,478 – Do I really need to type anything on these lines? The walking triple-double produced the lowest PER of his career this past season and in UGLY fashion (no not his wardrobe, but that is pretty bad too)
Jimmy Butler – $37,653,300 – Jimmy does plenty to deserve this money, and it’s not really relevant to the Lavine situation but it’s too fun not to add him to the list because Butler’s contract goes until 2025-2026 when he will be making $52,413,394. That is a ton of money for a 36 year old Jimmy Butler.
Tobias Harris – $37,633,050 – Tobias Harris is fine… but he ain’t $37M fine.. He might be the 3rd best player on his team, he makes more than Embiid. It’s not an easy contract to move if you choose to do so. Between Harris and Harden, the Sixers have some tough contracts to work with.
Ben Simmons – $35,448,672 – Speaking of bad Sixers contracts.. Ben Simmons, now with the Nets, did not contribute a single minute to either team this season, and for no real legitimate reason. After last season’s playoffs there was a falling out, but this got blown into absurd proportions. I don’t think the Bulls need to worry about Lavine holding out like that, but it’s still a reason for concern.
That’s roughly a quarter of the $35M+ contracts that have some major issues.. OK closer to 20% if we take out Butler, but I didn’t even get into the contracts that guys missed significant time due to injury or other off the court concerns.
I wish it were easier, I wish it was a clear yes, it’s just not for me, but I can’t say it’s a clear no either. At the end of the day, I think situationally, the Bulls have to sign Zach to the max. In a vacuum, without the other factors of aging co-stars, and current roster build, I would say no. Ultimately, I would like to see a sign and trade, for who? I don’t know yet. That will be the next thing to rattle around in my brain but I think I have come to the conclusion that if I have to pick a side, then I’m an anti-maxxer, as beautifully coined by @MKHoops. Lavine is not someone who is going to bring Chicago back to the promise land, and for that reason, I don’t want to bother paying him and risking it unless we can line up a trade in the near future. It may throw off our current structure/trajectory with DeMar and Vuc, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Vuc gets moved this off-season or at least before the deadline, and a core of Ball, DeMar, PWill, and AC is still pretty foundational depending on the return you could get for Vuc, amongst others, and assuming a sign and trade situation for Zach. We wouldn’t have to go full re-build. It’s complicated, it’s probably not going to happen the way I would do it, I am probably in the minority. I hope that I don’t have to say I told you so in a few years, I really don’t.
Where do you stand? Is Zach Lavine going to end up being a top draft pick in Bill Simmons’ “worst contracts draft” in the next few years? Will he prove me wrong and bring the Larry back to the Chi? Or will Arturas make magic happen, and make this all work out heading into next season? I hope he has a plan, I’m sure he does, for every bit of doubt I have about Lavine, I have equal amount of confidence in AK. Let me know your thoughts, you can find me on Twitter @GreNBA_ that’s all I have for now, as always thanks for reading, this is All Net!
Jacob Grenemeier
May 4th, 2022
Photo Credit: https://hoopshype.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/92/2021/10/i_29_f1_b4_zach-lavine.png?w=1000&h=600&crop=1
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