Zach LaVine's impending Free Agency

[fleet]

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Holy Lebron tampering!

[DuckIII]

Hopefully, Klutch doesn't screw him out of good deals because with how they handled certain players' situations lately, I personally would avoid them if I was in the position of Zach.

You mean Nerlens? Assuming it’s an issue at all, and I’m not convinced it is, it would appear the complaint is that Klutch ignores lesser players in favor of the stars. Zach is the latter, and is going to waltz into a max deal. So Nerlens’ situation is effectively the opposite.

[DuckIII]

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Holy Lebron tampering!

Ambiguous. But LeBron’s relationship with Klutch is problematic with regard to tampering, regardless.

[RoseTheFuture22]

The Anthony Davis angle in this is kind of interesting as a fellow clutch client. He will be a FA in 2024 for his last big deal when the DeRozan and Ball(another klutch client) contracts are up, Pat Williams will have a low cap hold as a RFA for his first big deal, and Zach will probably be in the midst of his new contract in his age 29 season. A Zach, Lonzo, Williams and Davis core would make a lot of sense

[Michael Jackson]

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Holy Lebron tampering!

Ambiguous. But LeBron’s relationship with Klutch is problematic with regard to tampering, regardless.

Klutch is more of his brand than LAL is honestly. He just wants big names that can make money under his silent partner company. Post playing career LeBron won’t care where these guys play as long as it isn’t Philly lol. Seriously he is just trying to recruit for his agency more than his team right now. He can’t tamper as they have no way to get him to LAL. Plus with Ball in house I think they like a working relationship with Chicago. That’s good for the Klutch brand imho.

[Michael Jackson]

The Anthony Davis angle in this is kind of interesting as a fellow clutch client. He will be a FA in 2024 for his last big deal when the DeRozan and Ball(another klutch client) contracts are up, Pat Williams will have a low cap hold as a RFA for his first big deal, and Zach will probably be in the midst of his new contract in his age 29 season. A Zach, Lonzo, Williams and Davis core would make a lot of sense

It’s possible for sure and at that point theoretically Chicago would have 2 Klutch clients. If Klutch started sending guys to Chicago everyone in this town would suddenly be happy with Klutch. As I said above having Chicago as a working partner is not a bad move for Klutch. Very good for endorsements for their guys. Who knows maybe ME had contact with those guys before or after he left Nike and this is part of their plan. Player entitlement is the new norm maybe they are jumping in and riding the wave instead of fighting it? Who knows time will tell. Who’s to say that Lebron doesn’t buy a piece of the Bulls potentially in the future. It’s not like Wade had any tie to the Jazz previously to ownership. I’m not saying I like these ideas but they are all possible.

[MGB]

Let’s play devils advocate and say first part of season goes south and we are near bottom of Eastern conference is there any chance we trade Lavine at deadline? Start process of a rebuild then since not many teams are going that route?

[gf2020hotmail]

Let’s play devils advocate and say first part of season goes south and we are near bottom of Eastern conference is there any chance we trade Lavine at deadline? Start process of a rebuild then since not many teams are going that route?

If the Bulls weren't locked into seeing this out, they wouldn't have signed and traded for DeMar. When you do something like that, you are pretty much pot committed for this season and seeing it out. I just don't think there's a chance the Bulls are bad enough that they are out of the running for at least the tenth seed by the first week of February. It's like impossible given how much parity there is and how much of the conference is trying. Like with all the talent added, how are the Bulls four games out of the tenth seed at the break and in a worse position than last year?

Even if we miss the playoffs, the threat of Zach leaving for nothing isn't that high since there's not many attractive destinations in unrestricted free agent and if we are as bad as you suggest in this theoretical, Zach likely has shown he's not a max player to most of the league.

Worse case, the Bulls could sign & trade Zach or sign him and bring him back with an understanding they will trade him if the next season doesn't go any better.

And I disagree on there not being that many teams who are tanking intentionally or inadvertently I mean if the Bulls did decide to switch up and tank, the Pistons, Magic, Thunder, Rockets, Spurs and Timberwolves are likely to have a good lead on us in the lottery standings. Why blow things up to finish sixth or seventh lottery odds where if they fail to make the play-in, they are going at being eight or ninth in the lottery anyway.

[Michael Jackson]

Let’s play devils advocate and say first part of season goes south and we are near bottom of Eastern conference is there any chance we trade Lavine at deadline? Start process of a rebuild then since not many teams are going that route?

Only if Zach gives a clear indication he is going to walk. At that point you try to gut everything too I assume but likelihood of that is slim. If AK had the stomach for rebuilding and wasn’t all in on Zach he would have not made the moves he has. He literally gave away everything a team that would need to rebuild. The reason why not many teams are rebuilding is because it in general doesn’t work that well. Detroit has what looks like a decent path at this point.
Cleveland may never become a playoff team much like the Bulls couldn’t. Orlando, same. If just winning a lottery guaranteed a solid rebuild the Pelicans would be in better shape. AK by his actions tells me he would rather be at least a middling team and try to add talent than he would be a full rebuild guy. After his first draft he said he never wanted to pick that high again. More than just lip service, he literally has traded picks to ensure that. I think you are more likely to see him trade Zach for a guy like Simmons if it looks like he was going to bolt than a full rebuild. Just my observation.

[d boy gentleman]

The Anthony Davis angle in this is kind of interesting as a fellow clutch client. He will be a FA in 2024 for his last big deal when the DeRozan and Ball(another klutch client) contracts are up, Pat Williams will have a low cap hold as a RFA for his first big deal, and Zach will probably be in the midst of his new contract in his age 29 season. A Zach, Lonzo, Williams and Davis core would make a lot of sense

Davis is a talented player, but there's a reason Chuck calls him "Street Clothes"

[WindyCityBorn]

Let’s play devils advocate and say first part of season goes south and we are near bottom of Eastern conference is there any chance we trade Lavine at deadline? Start process of a rebuild then since not many teams are going that route?

Highly doubt it. We are all in.

[RoseTheFuture22]

Let’s play devils advocate and say first part of season goes south and we are near bottom of Eastern conference is there any chance we trade Lavine at deadline? Start process of a rebuild then since not many teams are going that route?

I think it is possible. Zach said a few months ago that he wanted "respect" in contract talks. We don't know if any kind of extension or other future talks took place this offseason. Does the FO not want to give him his full max and that is why he hired Klutch? Although I think AKME like Zach, they have shown so far that they really did not like the player from the previous regime.

The front office has put more talent around him than he has ever had in his career thus far, if this team comes out and struggles again I think it could start to look to the FO that Zach can't be "the guy" and isn't worth that supermax. I don't think going full rebuild is an option based on the other moves that they've made but I could see the Ben Simmons deal or getting a guy who is a lesser player but maybe less ball dominant/better defensively.

[Mk0]

The Ringer and Windhorst podcasts looooved to run the idea that Derozan is "Zach insurance"; as in, we don't need to max you, we have DeMar. Their other angle is "omg Klutch! He is good as gone! He said he wanted respect and they spent all that money instead of extending him!!!1!!"

*Frankly it just sounded like they are tired af talking about Ben Simmons and need to speculate who they can trade him for that isn't named Damian Lillard. These guys have nothing to report on or speculate about.. Hell, one podcast did the same crap with Jaylen Brown for Simmons.

It all sounds just as dumb as it reads. The FO just gave him the most talented collection of teammates in his life, had they extended him this summer (which would have been dumb on his part, he makes more in the end as a UFA [right?]) they would not have had the money to build anything. He would have been paid but this team would be as bad or worse as last year.. and then he would probably ask for a trade in the summer.

[Chi town]

The Ringer and Windhorst podcasts looooved to run the idea that Derozan is "Zach insurance"; as in, we don't need to max you, we have DeMar. Their other angle is "omg Klutch! He is good as gone! He said he wanted respect and they spent all that money instead of extending him!!!1!!"

*Frankly just sounded like, they are tired af talking about Ben Simmons and need to speculate who they can trade Simmons for that isn't named Damian Lillard. These guys have nothing to report on or speculate about.. Hell, one podcast did the same crap with Jaylen Brown for Simmons.

It all sounds just as dumb as it reads. The FO just gave him the most talented collection of teammates in his life, had they extended him this summer (which would have been dumb on his part, he makes more in the end as a UFA [right?]) they would not have had the money to build anything. He would have been paid but this team would be as bad or worse as last year.. and then he would probably ask for a trade in the summer.

Zach leaving is laughable. He recruited DD. He sees this as his team with great support to win.

[WindyCityBorn]

Let’s play devils advocate and say first part of season goes south and we are near bottom of Eastern conference is there any chance we trade Lavine at deadline? Start process of a rebuild then since not many teams are going that route?

I think it is possible. Zach said a few months ago that he wanted "respect" in contract talks. We don't know if any kind of extension or other future talks took place this offseason. Does the FO not want to give him his full max and that is why he hired Klutch? Although I think AKME like Zach, they have shown so far that they really did not like the player from the previous regime.

The front office has put more talent around him than he has ever had in his career thus far, if this team comes out and struggles again I think it could start to look to the FO that Zach can't be "the guy" and isn't worth that supermax. I don't think going full rebuild is an option based on the other moves that they've made but I could see the Ben Simmons deal or getting a guy who is a lesser player but maybe less ball dominant/better defensively.

They literally gave up a very significant amount of assets to put what they think will be a playoff team around Zach. You don’t do what if you don’t plan on giving him the max. You don’t consult him if you are not building a team to compliment him.

[WindyCityBorn]

The Ringer and Windhorst podcasts looooved to run the idea that Derozan is "Zach insurance"; as in, we don't need to max you, we have DeMar. Their other angle is "omg Klutch! He is good as gone! He said he wanted respect and they spent all that money instead of extending him!!!1!!"

*Frankly it just sounded like they are tired af talking about Ben Simmons and need to speculate who they can trade him for that isn't named Damian Lillard. These guys have nothing to report on or speculate about.. Hell, one podcast did the same crap with Jaylen Brown for Simmons.

It all sounds just as dumb as it reads. The FO just gave him the most talented collection of teammates in his life, had they extended him this summer (which would have been dumb on his part, he makes more in the end as a UFA [right?]) they would not have had the money to build anything. He would have been paid but this team would be as bad or worse as last year.. and then he would probably ask for a trade in the summer.

Like you said they have nothing to talk about. Zach is getting his money. Period. If they weren’t planning keeping on him the Vuc and Derozan moves were idiotic. I don’t think AKME are idiots.

[WindyCityBorn]

The Ringer and Windhorst podcasts looooved to run the idea that Derozan is "Zach insurance"; as in, we don't need to max you, we have DeMar. Their other angle is "omg Klutch! He is good as gone! He said he wanted respect and they spent all that money instead of extending him!!!1!!"

*Frankly just sounded like, they are tired af talking about Ben Simmons and need to speculate who they can trade Simmons for that isn't named Damian Lillard. These guys have nothing to report on or speculate about.. Hell, one podcast did the same crap with Jaylen Brown for Simmons.

It all sounds just as dumb as it reads. The FO just gave him the most talented collection of teammates in his life, had they extended him this summer (which would have been dumb on his part, he makes more in the end as a UFA [right?]) they would not have had the money to build anything. He would have been paid but this team would be as bad or worse as last year.. and then he would probably ask for a trade in the summer.

Zach leaving is laughable. He recruited DD. He sees
this as his team with great support to win.

Yep Zach and Derozan will be one the best wing duos in the league.

[FanInTheAttic]

This is a team built around Zach. If it doesn't look like we are going to be in the playoffs by the trade deadline I wouldn't be surprised if AKME would trade Zach.They are not going to wait around and try to build on something that doesn't look like it is going to work. There's is no point in maxing Zach's contract if the Bulls are not in the playoffs next year with this team, and why would Zach stay? For sure he wants to play in a playoff level team somewhere else if it's not happening with the Bulls. Now he is also working with Klutch so he must feel pretty confident about receiving a hefty contract next offseason. So it is too risky not to trade him by the deadline, otherwise he might go without any compensation.

Without any major injuries of the key players, this surely looks like a team headed for the playoffs. And I'm really looking forward to the next season. But our roster is still a bit thin and if one or two of the key players gets injured....

[Stratmaster]

If this team isn't in the playoffs the most likely person to go is Billy Donovan.

Anything can happen. Injuries. Covid. But if this team is not in the playoffs it likely won't be because of Zach. Maybe through the early season you see that Vuc isn't a fit. Or that PWill isn't working in the mix. Maybe you trade another high value player who just isn't a fit.

You don't trade your best player. Certainly not in a vacuum.

Sent from my SM-G965U using RealGM mobile app

[DuckIII]

There's is no point in maxing Zach's contract if the Bulls are not in the playoffs next year with this team, and why would Zach stay?

Those are two separate issues. To the first, there is a point in maxing him. You retain him as an asset. He’s a max value player and he’s young. That’s an excellent chip to have in the game.

The second issue regarding why he would stay, not sure. I think Zach is loyal to Chicago and might want to give it more than one full season with this group, that he was heavily involved in recruiting, to see if it works. Regardless, he’d at minimum take the deal and try to work a trade later to ensure he gets the best contract possible. But that’s a Zach issue for him to decide.

From the Bulls’ side, he’s a no brainer max unless he suffers a severe injury or turns into a lunatic malcontent out of nowhere.