Adrian Wojnarowski dropped some coal in the Chicago Bulls’ stocking to begin the holiday season.
As both the Bulls and Zach LaVine remain open for a potential trade, a market is reportedly failing to materialize. Wojnarowski told ESPN’s Malika Andrews on Friday that teams still have plenty of questions about whether or not pursuing Zach LaVine is worth it.
“There is not a market for Zach LaVine right now in the NBA,” Wojnarowski said on NBA Today. “And that’s not because Chicago has not tried to find it and aren’t currently trying to find it …
Right now, I think for both LaVine and the Bulls, to get a trade, he needs to start playing well. He needs to start playing well and impacting winning. I think that’s certainly what teams are going to want to see as they look at the value of trading for him.”
Wojnarowski reiterated that the lack of interest in the two-time All-Star centers around both his hefty price tag and ability to play winning basketball. LaVine is owed just under $138.0 million over the next three seasons, and this doesn’t include the $40.0 million going into his pocket this year. This number also comes tied to a player who has appeared in just one playoff series over his decade in the NBA.
Will Zach LaVine’s Market Improve?
Of course, a lot of LaVine’s misfortune is due to his environment. Both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Chicago Bulls were in rather dysfunctional rebuilds, limiting the amount of win-now talent around him. With that in mind, I still believe it wouldn’t be too challenging for a contending team to talk themselves into his explosive athleticism and efficient three-level scoring talent. The problem for LaVine and the Bulls, however, is that he hasn’t shown those same skills to begin this season.
Indeed, as Woj noted, LaVine’s value has only fallen over the course of his 18 games this season. His effective field goal percentage of 51.5 is the lowest it’s been since the 2017-18 campaign when he was first coming off his ACL tear. His 3-point stroke has also fallen to just 33.8 percent, which is a significant drop off from the 39.4 percent he averaged over the past three seasons.
LaVine has also been one of the main reasons why the Chicago Bulls rank 26th in FG% at the rim, per Cleaning the Glass. Typically a strong finisher, LaVine is converting just 59 percent of his attempts at the rim thus far, which is at least a 10 percent drop off from his previous two seasons. More on the Bulls’ mind-boggling inability to make layups here.
With these stats in mind, it’s not hard to understand why the trade market is reportedly running dry. Not to mention, the Chicago Bulls want a strong return on their asset, and I’m sure opposing teams are well aware of that. Entertaining Arturas Karnisovas’ high asking price isn’t going to be a conversation anyone wants to have until LaVine begins to play better.
The problem for the Bulls is that LaVine is now out for the next week with right foot soreness. All things considered, it’s difficult not to think that this move could be, in part, out of an abundance of caution with his trade value in mind. But Wojnarowski is surely making it sound like LaVine will do little good for himself or the Bulls organization while stuck on the bench. Even if this is preserving his health, on-court improvement is what opposing organizations need to see.
Now, I should say that it’s possible opposing teams want this to be the message Woj sends out. The more the Chicago Bulls and Klutch believe there is a weak market for LaVine, the more likely it could be that the cost of trading for him goes down. I’d also note that it’s only December 1st. There is a reason we wrote about how long and painful this trade process could be last week.
Seldom do we see deals of any kind get done this early in the season. The trade deadline isn’t until February because that’s when front offices have a much better understanding of where their team is at and what they might need for a playoff push. A majority of the players who signed this offseason aren’t even trade-eligible until December 15, so the expectation has been that conversation wouldn’t arise with suitors in earnest until then.
So while I believe that Zach LaVine’s market is not what the Chicago Bulls would want it to be right now, I do think there is a lot of time for that to naturally change. But one way to ensure that happens ASAP is to make him understand that playing better basketball is in everyone’s best interest. If that doesn’t happen, things could get even worse.
Check out Woj’s full comments here: