Lets talk Zach Lavine

[BahamaBull]

Call me crazy but if I was the Bulls GM and the Nets call me offering Harden for Zach I would hang up the phone on Sean Marks face after telling him to GTFO!

Again, call me crazy...I dont care...

Zach have the potential to be the 2nd best offensive player in Bulls history (if hes not already) at only 25!

He have the right mindset...Is a worker...Great teammate...

I dont even understand why theres so many "trade zach" rumors out there...

[WindyCityBorn]

Sadly, I don't think he makes it. You need to "break the glass ceiling" so to speak, and once you make it, that's huge. Seems "alumni" status is huge in selection...as well as team success as always. Here's my best guess on selections:

In (no particular order):
- Harden
- Durant
- Kyrie
- Beal (voted in)
- Giannis
- Middleton (benefits from team perception as contender, and 2x alumni status...should be a spot for a guy like Zach)
- Embiid
- Simmons (similar to Middleton)
- Tatum
- Brown
- Sabonis (better team record compared to Bulls + past appearance)
- Randle (strong stats, mild team success is a big surprise, NY always get overhyped)

Zach should be ahead of Randle, Middleton and Sabonis.

It would be a bad move for the NBA to give 9 of the Eastern Conference spots to 4 teams.

It's not what I think should happen...it's what I think will happen.

I’m seeing media and analysts that were not impressed by Zach in the past putting him in now. ESPN is pushing for him to get in. We’ll see.

[FriedRise]

DA picked Zach as one of his EC Wildcards

Read on Twitter

Zach LaVine, Bulls (28.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.2 apg): The dude is posting career highs, per StatMuse, in points, rebounds, assists, 3s, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, free throw percentage, effective Field Goal percentage, True Shooting and PER. And…it’s true! In particular, LaVine is obliterating his previous career best behind the arc (.431; he’d shot .389 his second season in the league, in Minnesota) and become a late-game demon for Chicago. And, shoot, the Bulls are in the play-in tournament right now, and isn’t that what we’re all supposed to be excited about this year?

[Andi Obst]

Sadly, I don't think he makes it. You need to "break the glass ceiling" so to speak, and once you make it, that's huge. Seems "alumni" status is huge in selection...as well as team success as always. Here's my best guess on selections:

In (no particular order):
- Harden
- Durant
- Kyrie
- Beal (voted in)
- Giannis
- Middleton (benefits from team perception as contender, and 2x alumni status...should be a spot for a guy like Zach)
- Embiid
- Simmons (similar to Middleton)
- Tatum
- Brown
- Sabonis (better team record compared to Bulls + past appearance)
- Randle (strong stats, mild team success is a big surprise, NY always get overhyped)

Zach should be ahead of Randle, Middleton and Sabonis.

It would be a bad business move for the NBA to give 9 of the Eastern Conference spots to 4 teams.

Agreed on Randle and Sabonis, but not on Middleton. He’s been the Bucks‘ best player in a lot of games this season IMO.

[LateNight]

Sadly, I don't think he makes it. You need to "break the glass ceiling" so to speak, and once you make it, that's huge. Seems "alumni" status is huge in selection...as well as team success as always. Here's my best guess on selections:

In (no particular order):
- Harden
- Durant
- Kyrie
- Beal (voted in)
- Giannis
- Middleton (benefits from team perception as contender, and 2x alumni status...should be a spot for a guy like Zach)
- Embiid
- Simmons (similar to Middleton)
- Tatum
- Brown
- Sabonis (better team record compared to Bulls + past appearance)
- Randle (strong stats, mild team success is a big surprise, NY always get overhyped)

Zach should be ahead of Randle, Middleton and Sabonis.

It would be a bad business move for the NBA to give 9 of the Eastern Conference spots to 4 teams.

Agreed on Randle and Sabonis, but not on Middleton. He’s been the Bucks‘ best player in a lot of games this season IMO.

Fair enough! He’s the player I have watched the least of the guys I mentioned, so I am probably way off base

[Jcool0]

Zach should be ahead of Randle, Middleton and Sabonis.

It would be a bad business move for the NBA to give 9 of the Eastern Conference spots to 4 teams.

Agreed on Randle and Sabonis, but not on Middleton. He’s been the Bucks‘ best player in a lot of games this season IMO.

Fair enough! He’s the player I have watched the least of the guys I mentioned, so I am probably way off base

He only made because the Bucks were the best team in the NBA the last two years. This year they are 16-12 and all his numbers are slightly down from last year. He probably isn't making it.

[imagge]

I believe the closer the Bulls are to .500 when the coaches select Lavine will have a real shot at making the all star team. On paper he may have less than Beal who has a former perennial All Star and Former MVP on his team yet his team is performing better in terms of wins/loses

[Andi Obst]

Agreed on Randle and Sabonis, but not on Middleton. He’s been the Bucks‘ best player in a lot of games this season IMO.

Fair enough! He’s the player I have watched the least of the guys I mentioned, so I am probably way off base

He only made because the Bucks were the best team in the NBA the last two years. This year they are 16-12 and all his numbers are slightly down from last year. He probably isn't making it.

He‘s 100% making it. And he should. Saying he only made it because the Bucks were so good is just laughable.

[Andi Obst]

I usually don’t really care about the ASG, but I really want Zach to make it, so I thought about who I would pick in more detail (at least for the East).

My starters:

Kyrie - Yeah, people find him annoying, but he’s been ridiculously good.

Harden - See Kyrie.

Durant - See Kyrie and Harden I guess.

Giannis - Not as dominant as last year, but still way too good not to start.

Embiid - My MVP pick so far.

Bench:

G - Jaylen Brown - Shouldn’t be listed as a guard, but he is, so he’s taking this spot. Reached a new level and has arguably been as good as Tatum, maybe better on offense. Serious MIP candidate for me. Lock.

G - Trae Young - I hate the foul-hunting too, but he’s still efficient as a scorer, a top-tier playmaker and the Hawks are still playing like the worst team in the league when he’s off the floor. I don’t love it, but he belongs here IMO.

F - Khris Middleton - Not sexy, but he’s super efficient and has arguably been the Bucks‘ best player on offense. Good defender too. Lock.

F - Bam Adebayo - The Heat suck, but he’s been great. One of the best defensive bigs in the league, took a huge step on offense. Lock.

F - Jayson Tatum - Had COVID which slowed him down, but still easily an All Star. Lock.

WC - Beal - Closer to Zach than a lot of people seem to think, but a tiny bit ahead. He’ll most likely start, which is a little too much IMO. It certainly hurts Zach‘s chances.

WC - This is so super tough. Zach, Sabonis, Vucevic and even Randle have a case here. I would honestly give to Zach, but I could see the coaches giving it to someone like Simmons because of his defense and the Sixers‘ record. That would make me at least a little mad.

[LateNight]

G - Trae Young - I hate the foul-hunting too, but he’s still efficient as a scorer, a top-tier playmaker and the Hawks are still playing like the worst team in the league when he’s off the floor. I don’t love it, but he belongs here IMO.

I may get eaten alive for this - and I’m obviously bias - but i could see a case for putting Zach ahead of Trae.

[meekrab]

Celtics are all of a game and a half ahead of the Bulls but they will get two All Stars and the Bulls might not even have one, lol.

[Jcool0]

Fair enough! He’s the player I have watched the least of the guys I mentioned, so I am probably way off base

He only made because the Bucks were the best team in the NBA the last two years. This year they are 16-12 and all his numbers are slightly down from last year. He probably isn't making it.

He‘s 100% making it. And he should. Saying he only made it because the Bucks were so good is just laughable.

I mean it's the truth. He is a good player but not someone who is a perennial All-Star. I mean he made it in 2019 averaging 17.7 points on 44% shooting with the last two months of voting he was at 16 points on 42% shooting.

[cool007]

Celtics are all of a game and a half ahead of the Bulls but they will get two All Stars and the Bulls might not even have one, lol.

Totally agree. Even with having Tatum as his running mate, Brown can afford to have down nights and they can still win or be in the game, as for Zach, he HAS to produce to even have Bulls be in the game.

Big difference and overlooked. Besides, Lavine is having arguably better year than Brown.

[Andi Obst]

He only made because the Bucks were the best team in the NBA the last two years. This year they are 16-12 and all his numbers are slightly down from last year. He probably isn't making it.

He‘s 100% making it. And he should. Saying he only made it because the Bucks were so good is just laughable.

I mean it's the truth. He is a good player but not someone who is a perennial All-Star. I mean he made it in 2019 averaging 18 points on 44% shooting.

2019 was a different story, misread your post and thought you only said last year. He was a weak All Star that year for sure. Last year he was a lock, this year he should be too IMO.

[Andi Obst]

G - Trae Young - I hate the foul-hunting too, but he’s still efficient as a scorer, a top-tier playmaker and the Hawks are still playing like the worst team in the league when he’s off the floor. I don’t love it, but he belongs here IMO.

I may get eaten alive for this - and I’m obviously bias - but i could see a case for putting Zach ahead of Trae.

I see it too. It depends on what makes an All Star an All Star for you, because the rules aren’t set. You could argue that Trae took a step back from last season while Zach clearly got better. Trae isn‘t a 100% lock for me, but I think he’ll definitely make it again.

[NewKnicks]

Great thread and I come in peace from the Knicks board.

Here's my question.. why would the Bulls even consider trading a 25 year old who is finally establishing himself as a top-tier NBA player? I don't even understand why he would be available at all.

All the Bulls would be doing is trying to find 'the next Lavine' in the draft if you traded for draft picks instead of player for player swap. And if they do go for a player for player swap, who could the Bulls get that is better than Lavine?

I see this trading Lavine idea all over RealGM on other boards, not just yours and I don't get it. He's 25 and still can get a lot better.

Is this just chatter for rumors sake? Or do you guys think your front office is actually fielding offers?

We'd love to have him on the Knicks, BTW.

Thanks fellas. If you tell me to STFU and GTFO, I understand.

[LateNight]

Great thread and I come in peace from the Knicks board.

Here's my question.. why would the Bulls even consider trading a 25 year old who is finally establishing himself as a top-tier NBA player? I don't even understand why he would be available at all.

All the Bulls would be doing is trying to find 'the next Lavine' in the draft if you traded for draft picks instead of player for player swap. And if they do go for a player for player swap, who could the Bulls get that is better than Lavine?

I see this trading Lavine idea all over RealGM on other boards, not just yours and I don't get it. He's 25 and still can get a lot better.

Is this just chatter for rumors sake? Or do you guys think your front office is actually fielding offers?

We'd love to have him on the Knicks, BTW.

Thanks fellas. If you tell me to STFU and GTFO, I understand.

So far, no one in this board (or in the media) seems to have any idea what AK or Eversley think about anything or plan to do.

There is growing consensus that the bulls should build around Zach - but there are also people who have wanted to trade him since we got him and have not changed their mind. It’s a hot button issue in here.

But I think the trade rumors are mostly just around because the media need to write about something and Zach and Beal are two of the only “star” players still under contract who might be available (since the teams are rebuilding).

[BullChit]

Great thread and I come in peace from the Knicks board.

Here's my question.. why would the Bulls even consider trading a 25 year old who is finally establishing himself as a top-tier NBA player? I don't even understand why he would be available at all.

All the Bulls would be doing is trying to find 'the next Lavine' in the draft if you traded for draft picks instead of player for player swap. And if they do go for a player for player swap, who could the Bulls get that is better than Lavine?

I see this trading Lavine idea all over RealGM on other boards, not just yours and I don't get it. He's 25 and still can get a lot better.

Is this just chatter for rumors sake? Or do you guys think your front office is actually fielding offers?

We'd love to have him on the Knicks, BTW.

Thanks fellas. If you tell me to STFU and GTFO, I understand.

This is basically a board discussion of Build around Zach vs tank and rebuild...

It took over from the Jimmy Butler discussion years ago which evolved from the tank threads the moment D Rose went down...

Sent from my CPH1979 using Tapatalk

[WindyCityBorn]

Great thread and I come in peace from the Knicks board.

Here's my question.. why would the Bulls even consider trading a 25 year old who is finally establishing himself as a top-tier NBA player? I don't even understand why he would be available at all.

All the Bulls would be doing is trying to find 'the next Lavine' in the draft if you traded for draft picks instead of player for player swap. And if they do go for a player for player swap, who could the Bulls get that is better than Lavine?

I see this trading Lavine idea all over RealGM on other boards, not just yours and I don't get it. He's 25 and still can get a lot better.

Is this just chatter for rumors sake? Or do you guys think your front office is actually fielding offers?

We'd love to have him on the Knicks, BTW.

Thanks fellas. If you tell me to STFU and GTFO, I understand.

A lot of people on here hated the Butler trade that brought LaVine over and they have never accepted him. So no matter how well he plays and they are going to dig in the original stance. I don’t think this poll is representative of the actual board sentiment anymore though. The have been like 70 keep him and maybe 15 trade him votes since he really started playing well this season. As far as reality I don’t think the Bulls are looking to trade him. Others teams are just interested and we are not good so it makes for speculation.

[Kukoc-Lauri]

Bulls with Zach as best player are not going anywhere near being contender. That is harsh truth. Best longterm for Bulls is to trade him right now when his value is at all time high and focus to position themselves better in draft loterry. If you have option to be play in team with Zach and being swept by Bucks or Phila in first round at best or to be in position to draft in top five in 2021 draft with having additional assets from Lavine's trade, what is your preffered option?