The Chicago Bulls’ efforts to trade Zach LaVine have been unfruitful.
They have tried to attach first-round draft capital to his contract to no avail, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks on June 30.
NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson suggested they could use the second-round picks they received in their trade of DeMar DeRozan to incentivize a team take on LaVine on the July 7 episode of the “Bulls Talk Podcast.”
Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz has a “win-win” three-team trade idea to secure a deal:
Bulls get:
– Andrew Wiggins
– Brandon Ingram
Warriors get:
– Zach LaVine
Pelicans get:
– Nikola Vucevic
– Gary Payton II
– Kevon Looney
– 2025 first-round pick (top-14 protected from POR via CHI)
– Second-round picks (2028 & 2029)
“If Ingram doesn’t fit, holds out for a max deal next summer and/or suffers further injuries, the Bulls can treat him as an expiring $36 million salary,” Swartz wrote on July 9. “Of course, if Ingram has another All-Star season in 2024-25, the Bulls might have a better chance keeping him as the only team that can offer him a five-year deal.
“The Bulls have to take on Andrew Wiggins in this deal, but he’s owed $53.3 million less over the next three years than LaVine ($84.7 million compared to $138 million).”
Bulls Add NBA Champ, Former All-Star While Shedding Salary in Proposed Trade
LaVine is in Year 3 of a five-year, $215.1 million contract. He has a $43 million cap hit in 2024-25 and a $48.9 million player option for the final season in 2026-27. Vucevic, 33, will earn $20 million in Year 2 of a three-year, $60 million pact in 2024-25.
Ingram, 26, averaged 20.8 points, 5.7 assists, and 5.1 rebounds in 2023-24. He is in the final year of a five-year, $158.2 million contract.
He will count $36 million against the salary cap in 2024-25.
The Athletic’s Will Guillory reported on July 8 that there was internal “optimism” around the two
sides potentially agreeing on a contract extension. Wiggins, 29, posted a 13.2-point, 4.5-board, 1.5-assist line in 2023-24.
He is in Year 2 of a four-year, $109 million contract with a $26.3 million cap hit in 2024-25. There is a $30 million player option for the final season of the deal in 2026-27.
Like Ingram (2019-20), Wiggins (2021-22) is a one-time All-Star.
He is also a champion, helping the Warriors win the 2022 NBA Finals. The Athletic’s Anthony Slater reported on July 9 that the Warriors are holding out for Utah Jazz forward and former Bull Lauri Markkanen.
Swartz’s scenario would shave $700,00 from the Bulls’ books in 2024-25, trading LaVine and Vucevic’s combined $63 million salary for Ingram and Wiggins’ combined $62.3 million.
The Bulls are $4 million below the luxury tax, per Spotrac, and have been averse to paying it.
This scenario could keep them competitive enough to miss out on their first-round pick. That could cost them an opportunity to land Cooper Flagg, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo’s projected No. 1 pick as of June 28.