BOSTON — Zach LaVine’s name is sure to be mentioned repeatedly between now and the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline.
The first trickle of rumors surrounding the Chicago Bulls guard came this week from The Athletic. The Denver Nuggets, seeking a secondary star to slot in next to Nikola Jokić, reportedly are eyeing LaVine, among others.
The Nuggets have a slew of options in mind: the Washington Wizards’ Jonas Valančiūnas and Jordan Poole, Utah Jazz’s Jordan Clarkson, Brooklyn Nets’ Cam Johnson and Atlanta Hawks’ De’Andre Hunter, according to the report. But LaVine is an outlier among the group for two reasons.
The first: LaVine is, hands down, the best scorer in that group. A two-time All-Star, LaVine has bounced back from injury to buoy the Bulls this season, averaging 21.7 points while shooting a career-best 42.8% from 3-point range.
LaVine is day-to-day with back spasms, which held him out of Monday’s win in Toronto. But when the guard is available, he is a standout two-level scorer. Few players would offer a better lift for the Nuggets, who consistently struggle to find a source of offense when Jokić needs a couple of minutes of rest.
But the second reason LaVine is an outlier is also why he’s the least likely trade option of the bunch: his salary.
LaVine is midway through the third season of a five-year maximum contract valued at $215 million. And the price tag — not his abilities — have prevented LaVine from being moved despite significant interest from both the Bulls and LaVine over the past year.
To make a trade work, the Nuggets would need to send back a significant amount of salary to remain cap compliant. The most realistic options to complete a deal would be their top earners besides Jokić: Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon.
The only player in that group the Nuggets likely would be willing to part with is Porter. The sixth-year guard is also on the third year of a five-year deal, but he would lighten the Bulls’ books by more than $7 million per year.
Porter is a lower-volume shooter who offers less offensive punch than LaVine — but if draft capital is also involved, this could be the first step for the Bulls in navigating a complex roster overhaul. Still, it will be a hard sell to any team on the length and heft of LaVine’s contact with 2½ seasons left to pay out.
Other players to watch
Nikola Vučević: The center is playing out of his mind this season, shooting a remarkable 58.7% from the floor, including 47.5% on 3-pointers. With his combination of accuracy and experience, Vučević is looking like a steal at $20 million per year — and could be the easiest move on the books for the Bulls to cash in on some draft stock.
Lonzo Ball: This one takes a little more trust. Ball has begun to return to his previous form as an elite passer and consistent defender, but he still hasn’t been medically cleared to play more than 20 minutes per game. With each successful outing, however, Ball is moving the needle on potential interest around the league in the final year of his contract.
Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White and Patrick Williams: All three of these young players fit into the same category of potential trade assets for the Bulls: movable contracts, decent levels of development, consistency in their respective strengths — defensive versatility for Dosunmu and Williams, shooting and on-ball playmaking for White). Williams can’t be moved until Jan. 15 because of a restriction from signing his new contract over the summer. The Bulls are unlikely to part with their entire young core at this juncture, but attaching one of these players to a trade could be worth it — for the right price.
