Bulls say they’re sticking with Zach LaVine — for now

Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine is seemingly off the trading block in Chicago after months of speculation whether he’d be shipped out in what looks to be a franchise in rebuild mode. Executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas spoke to reporters on Sunday about the vision for the future of the franchise — one that will include LaVine.

“We expect Zach being fully healthy. And he is healthy. I think he can help this group next year. He’s been professional,” Karnišovas said. “Again, he’s healthy. We expect him to be with us at the start of training camp.”

However, Bulls management made it clear that just because LaVine or anyone else on the roster isn’t in trade conversations now doesn’t mean they are a long-term fix on the team.

“I don’t think there’s a perfect way of doing things in terms of sequence,” Karnišovas said about building the roster. “We prefer certain things to go first. I think sequentially it’s very hard to predict what the market is going to be. That’s why I’m saying I don’t know what’s going to happen. After the season, I said everything is on the table. We’re not going to make deals that are not going to make us better. We’re going to be patient with that. But I think we’re far away from a finished product now.”

LaVine, coming off a season when he played only 25 games due to a foot injury that required surgery, has been in trade conversations dating back to last offseason. It is not necessarily due to a lack of production for the squad. Since joining the Bulls in 2017, LaVine has averaged 24.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists, and has made two All-Star teams.

Trade conversations and general discourse around LaVine as a whole stem from the fact that although he can put up numbers as a scorer, it typically does not translate into winning for his teams. From 2017-2024, Chicago has made the postseason only one time in 2022. The Bulls lost that series in five games to the Milwaukee Bucks and LaVine was the third best player on that team behind current Sacramento King DeMar Derozan and Nikola Vucevic.

Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer noted how despite shopping LaVine on the trade market, there hasn’t been much interest around the league.

His trade value across the board has gotten so low that dealing him in most scenarios would have required Chicago to attach a first-round pick in addition to LaVine, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Typically, trading stars would bring back draft picks in return, not sending them away with the star.

After an offseason where the Bulls made many moves including drafting Matas Buzelis with the 11th overall pick in June and re-signing forward Patrick Williams to a five-year, $90 million deal, it seems like Chicago is opting toward building up its younger players.

The Bulls youth movement also brought guard Josh Giddey over via trade with the Thunder, sending Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City.

While LaVine certainly isn’t “old” at 29, he still brings experience to Chicago’s team. For now, LaVine will return as a veteran presence and probably a main scorer. But don’t be surprised if his name pops up in trade talks again if the team gets off to a slow start next season.