The Chicago Bulls have explored Zach LaVine trades for years, intensifying their efforts the last couple of months. Now, the core player who they wanted to trade the most will return.
“We expect Zach being fully healthy. And he is healthy. I think he can help this group next year. He’s been professional,” Bulls executive vice president Arturas Karnišovas says, per NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson.
“We expect him to be with us at the start of training camp.”
The Bulls are “convinced LaVine’s injury issues contributed to his slow start to last season at a time the entire team struggled out of the gate…,” Johnson adds. “Management is counting on LaVine to return to a young core… and not limit the growth of new core pieces…”
Given that LaVine appears to be at odds with the Bulls front office and head coach Billy Donovan, this is a volatile situation. Indeed, LaVine returning to the Bulls in 2024-25 has been characterized as a “worst-case scenario” by Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Bulls’ ‘Worst-Case Scenario’ Now Reality After Failed Trade
With DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso being supplanted by Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey, the Bulls are seemingly in a rebuild. As a result, people may believe Chicago doesn’t want to be ultra-competitive next season. However, the only pick that’s coming to the Bulls next summer will be a lottery-protected first-rounder from the Portland Trail Blazers. As a result, Chicago has little incentive to tank.
That may make their reluctance to re-sign DeRozan a bit confusing. Yet, what the Bulls needed was a retooling; to remodel their core. A full-on youth movement may still be on the horizon. Nonetheless, Chicago’s Achilles heel the last couple of seasons hasn’t been a lack of talent, but poor health.
The Bulls also ran into a problem defensively, the Big Three of DeRozan, LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic hemorrhaging points.
One of DeRozan and LaVine had to go, as neither can be relied on at that end. Investing more heavily in their perimeter defense would make it easier on Vucevic as well. If Chicago had started defensive stud Ayo Dosunmu alongside LaVine, it may still work out. However, trading Caruso puts a dent in their defensive ceiling, especially with Giddey’s lack of athleticism and defensive awareness.
Based on Johnson’s report, there’s a legitimate chance that the Bulls start both Giddey and Coby White.
White’s convoluted development arc makes it all but impossible to predict how he’ll look next offseason. Losing two mentors in DeRozan and Caruso likely won’t help him perform better either. However, White displayed more defensive intensity than LaVine last season.
To be fair, LaVine was essentially playing on one foot. Nonetheless, his poor defensive reputation has largely hinged on his effort. Again, he wouldn’t be the first player to focus more on putting up points than stopping players from scoring. Yet, starting White and Dosunmu could give them a better shot at winning.
They Moved Furniture, But Are In The Same Place
A perimeter group of White, Dosunmu, Buzelis, and Patrick Williams may be the best defensive unit they have, but none of those players have demonstrated star-caliber scoring ability.
As a result, the Bulls are in the same place they were before they made their offseason moves. Giddey, LaVine, and Vucevic have a lot to offer offensively, like their former Big 3. However, their best defenders are streaky shooters who play the same position as many of their top scorers.
Ultimately, all that the Bulls may have truly done is moved around some furniture.
