League Circles wrote:jnrjr79 wrote:League Circles wrote:
I never try to merge predictions with advocacy. If the Bulls have already written off any possible future with Zach, they're making a big mistake IMO, and shouldn't have ever signed him to his contract. But regardless, if he does play a lot better, he should have a lot of value, and if we're too dumb to consider using that value for the next half decade, we should at least be able to get something really good in trade for him, which could be involved in getting the #1 guy we want and need.
Yeah, I'm not advocating, I'm just trying to say "this is what reality appears to be."
I don't think Zach will ever have "a lot of value" at this point just due to his injury history and contract, but I think he can play himself into having some degree of positive value. Setting aside whether you think it's the right move to keep Zach, it's clear he wants to leave and the FO wants to ship him out, so it seems rather pointless to me to be pretending it's realistic he'll be around. And even if you accept the premise that it would be smart to keep a healthy Zach, I don't think that makes it more likely he stays, because this front office is not exactly known for making a lot of smart moves.
I'm not really sure I'd agree that the Bulls want him gone, because I'd use that language on a net basis. Unless there were literally zero deals offered, which I doubt, they decided they'd rather keep him. Otherwise, to the extent they want Zach gone, they should/would want the whole roster gone and replaced with 15 all-nba caliber players. Essentially I'm saying that the idea that a team wants to acquire or get rid of a player never has any meaning without considering what they are willing to accept/give up to get it done.
The Bulls wanted him gone, under the circumstances this summer, only for a package that they weren't offered. That was when he was injured and following a terrible short season. If he plays the best ball of his life for the first 2 or 3 months of the season, he and the Bulls should be happier and only willing to part for a better package than what they would have accepted this summer.
The reporting suggests there were "no deals" for Zach in the sense that any team that was considering taking Zach was demanding the Bulls include some other positive asset(s) in order to take his contract on. I agree the Bulls were unwilling to do this, and good for them. In that situation, it's better to wait. I think Zach's market value is underrated around the league and he could turn things around to some extent if he stays healthy.
And if Zach plays the best ball of his life for 3 months without missing games, and we're winning, teams will IMO offer a very attractive package for him. We'll see what happens.
Even if Zach plays the best ball of his life, I doubt the Bulls are going to be winning a ton of games, absent some other surprising positive player developments.
For the record, my prediction is that Zach plays pretty well and is traded mid season for slightly shorter/smaller contract(s) and a generic garbage draft pick, quite probably one that takes like 5 years to transfer and ends up being a late first or some nonsense.
I think this is the most likely scenario, too, assuming he stays healthy.
