If I had a nickel for every time a report said a team doesn’t want Zach LaVine, I might be able to buy (and save) the Chicago Bulls!
I remain absolutely mind-boggled by the number of non-updates we continue to receive on the two-time All-Star. The market seemingly has not changed for LaVine since h🍸e opted for season-ending surgery in February. Not only do concerns about his long-term health remain, but the idea of taking on his $43.0 million per season i♏s apparently nauseating to front offices in the era of the second apron.
We’ve known all of this for months. And, yet, teams continuously like to remind us that they will not even think about touching LaVine with a ten-foot pole. Honestly💟, it just feels rude at thisꩵ point!
The Golden State Warriors were the latest to have their names NOT tied to the Zach LaVine market. regarding Lauri Markkanen’s looming extension, Shams Charania, Tony Jones, and Anthony Slater mentioned LaVine and one other big name as someone the Warriors do not want to do business with. This comes after an offseason of rumors that had Golden State showing interest in a blockbuster trade for The Finnisher. It also comes after the team reportedly turned down an opportunity to send CP3𓃲 and/📖or Andrew Wiggins to Chicago for LaVine.
“The Warriors maintain control of all but one of their future first-round picks (a 2030 top-20 protected pick outgoing to Washington), plus a young quartet of Podziemski, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Moody and Jonathan Kuminga, providing flexibility and ammunition to be an aggressive buyer all the way to February’s deadline. They’ve shown no appetite to enter the Zach LaVine or Brandon Ingram market,” .
The fact this is the last sentence of an article about Markkanen getting paid like a superstar is tragically poetic. Once seen as the marquee building block next to Zach LaVine, the Bulls moved on from the seven-foot sharpshooter and committed fully to the athletic guard. Now, teams are all in on Markkanen and doing everything they can to make it obvious that they’re out on LaVine. Only the Bulls!
Zach LaVine & The Warriors
For what it’s worth, I express all of this frustration while simultaneously holding out irrational hope that a team like the Warriors will inevitably arise as a LaVine suitor. It’s not that hard to see, right? They are clearly remaining in win-now mode with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green on the roster. We’ve also seen Joe Lacob have very little care for paying whatever it takes to win. Sure, the restrictions that come with the new second apron are daunting, but how soon until ambitious owners cast their fears aside?
In other w💃ords, if the Warriors are struggling midway through this season and LaVine is looking like normal LaVine, he sure feels like a pretty obvious fit for the franchise. He can slide right into the Klay Thompson role as an excellent off-ball mover and shooter. Even better, he would add a level of athleticism and explosiveness the team has been lacking at times in the past.
Let’s also not forget that he isn’t expected to cost that much in return! If the Warriors are hesitant to move on from some of their young talent, LaVine is exactly the kind of distressed asset worth pursuing. The Bulls don’t have the leverage to ask for Jonathan Kuminga or Brandin Podziemski. Instead, they would potentially take back any unwanted Warriors salary (*cough* Andrew Wiggins *cough*).
Again, in my opinion, the Warriors represent the exact kind of franchise that could finally take a swing at LaVine. They have unlimited resources, are eager to stay relevant, and have long played a style of basketball that fits the scorer’s strengths. I completely understand why they aren’t currently interested, but there is a reason they are continuously put in the same sentence with the Bulls’ star.
