MalagaBulls wrote:Interesting article from Cowley on the looming staredown:
https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/with-the-season-over-expect-the-bulls-and-zach-lavine-to-start-the-stare-down/
One dicey topic remains: the pending contract negotiations with soon-to-be restricted free agent Zach LaVine.
And Paxson wasn’t in a position to clear things up.
“Well, the market dictates a lot and how things go,’’ Paxson said. “I think the market has tightened up a little bit the last couple of years since the spike. We obviously value Zach a lot, and we think he’s a part of our future, but he has the opportunity to explore things.
“Gar will get with his agent at the appropriate time and begin discussions about that, and it will play out the way it will play out. But we think he fits the direction we’re going, and we have great faith in his ability that he’ll have a great summer in terms of his work and his improvement as a player, and we’ll see. It’s up in the air and not defined yet, but we’ll do it the way we feel is right, and we’ll have good communication with Zach and his agent.’’
Paxson’s right about the situation not being “defined’’ publicly.
Privately, things haven’t gotten contentious, but both sides have their feet firmly planted.
According to a source close to the situation, LaVine and his camp believe that if he isn’t a max player, he’s certainly close to it. The thinking is that he was the centerpiece of the Jimmy Butler trade with the Timberwolves and was a star attraction before his injury.
The feeling from the Bulls is that LaVine brings an athleticism they’ve missed for several years, but he needs serious work on his defense and still has to show consistency in his offensive game after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament.
Hence the expected stalemate.
None of that talk means much. I expect LaVine to sign a contract in the range of guys like Harris and Hardaway, with potential to be more based on incentives. We can incentivize his contract based on number of games played, making the all-star team, all-nba teams, playoffs appearance, etc. We can also sign him to a very short-term contract which will give an opportunity to him to establish his real value. Either of these options, I will be fine with.
I notice that there are some fans out here who are boldly advocating that we sign him to a cheap contract or none. It's not how it works and it's not how you build relationships with players and agents around the league. Since fair market value is going to be hard to establish, after having been injured, the best and fair strategy is to offer him a contract full of incentives that that can balloon up to his true value. This way, everyone ends up being happy.