Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine is seemingly off the trading block 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.
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.
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 — back 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 Kings star 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.
The Bulls have attempted to find a new home for LaVine since last offseason, according to league sources, but have yet to develop signification traction on deals outside of talks with Detroit that once included Bojan Bogdanović — who’s since been traded to New York — and the Pistons are now under new leadership with president Trajan Langdon
