he Chicago Bulls cannot fully embark on their youth movement with some of their higher-priced veterans still on the roster.
Chief among that group is two-time former All-Star Zach LaVine, whose injury history and hefty contract have all proven detrimental along with questions about his ability to contribute to winning basketball at a high level. The Bulls have been unable to find a taker for LaVine.
Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes suggests a trade sending LaVine to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Some have suggested the Bulls would need to include picks to get anyone to take LaVine, so this construction, which has Reaves as the headliner from the Lakers and includes no draft equity going either direction, is more realistic than it might seem,” Hughes wrote on August 14.
“The Bulls preserve their picks, break up LaVine’s big deal into four smaller ones and remove their biggest impediment to a true reconstruction.”
This deal would not work as currently constructed, per Spotrac’s trade machine.
The Bulls are hard-capped at the $178.1 million first luxury tax apron, per Spotrac. Hughes’ suggested deal would add $16.3 million to their bottom line in 2024-25, putting them over that first-apron threshold by $6.6 million.
Bulls Would Land Diverse Group in Zach LaVine Trade Proposal
Reaves is in Year 2 of a four-year, $53.8 million contract that he signed in restricted free agency in 2023. Reaves averaged 15.9 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.3 rebounds in 2023-24. He has a $12.9 million cap hit in 2024-25.
Hachimura averaged 13.6 points, 4.3 board, and 1.2 assists in 2023-24, the first year of a three-year, $51 million contract. He carries a $17 million cap hit in 2024-25.
Vanderbilt appeared in 29 games in 2023-24 due to injury.
However, the Bulls would have to cut three players if they were financially able to make the trade as currently constructed with all of their standard contract roster spots filled.
Bulls Could Add Players to Make Deal With Lakers Work
Adding a player like Nikola Vucevic (three-year, $60 million contract) would mean the Lakers have to add more players to the deal. Adding someone on a smaller contract like Jevon Carter (three-year, $19.5 million contract) would require adding another player to satisfy league rules.
That is only the beginning of the potential difficulty in getting a deal like Hughes suggests completed.
The Lakers’ interest in LaVine has been minimal to this point.
Lakers star LeBron James was in favor of dealing for the Bulls star, though, per The Athletic’s Sam Amick, Anthony Slater, and Jovan Buha in February. Buha also reported on the “Buha’s Block” podcast in July that the Lakers would only trade Reaves for an “All-Star-level guy.”
He has since dealt with knee and foot injuries that required surgery.
LaVine’s 2023-24 campaign was short after 25 games. He is in Year 3 of a five-year, $215.1 million contract with a $43 million cap charge in 2024-25. Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said he expected LaVine to open camp with the team.
Josh Buckhalter covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. He has covered both leagues since 2016, including bylines at FanSided, Last Word on Sports and Clocker Sports. He’s based in Villa Park, Illinois. Follow Josh on Twitter and Instagram: @JoshGBuck More about Josh Buckhalter
