Wiretap: Bulls Hope To Re-Sign Zach LaVine At $14M-$16M

[madvillian]

Making a proactive offer to Lavine seems really dumb to me.

Step 1 of this should be Lavine trying to receive an offer in FA and failing. Only after that should Bulls engage.

In my opinion that almost guarantees he'll play for the qualifying offer. He'll just be so angry.

I consider the qualifying offer a very bad scenario.

You make it clear to him that signing the qualifying offer will result in him getting Noel'd and benched.

that would be a great way to never get any FAs and to get a grievance filed against Chicago. Christ, do you ever think sometimes before you post this stuff?

There are only about 300 jobs in the NBA. It's a very, very, very small clique. You don't piss in anybody's cheerios like that without it spilling all over yourself.

[League Circles]

Making a proactive offer to Lavine seems really dumb to me.

Step 1 of this should be Lavine trying to receive an offer in FA and failing. Only after that should Bulls engage.

In my opinion that almost guarantees he'll play for the qualifying offer. He'll just be so angry.

I consider the qualifying offer a very bad scenario.

Why? You think if he pulls a Jimmy Butler and "bets on himself" he'll just be in it for his own counting stats and he'll just continue his 4 year trend of making his team much much worse when he's on the floor? I kind of agree. I would rather just let him walk. But, we know the Bulls are way too proud to do that. That would be admitting a mistake. But, it's not really. So what if we only got Lauri and Dunn out of the Jimmy trade. We also got worse and got the #7 this draft, so you just have to do what you have to do to make this team better. Overpaying Lavine is not the answer.

If nobody else gives him a decent offer, I think we are stuck with him essentially playing for a contract. I'm with you, E, I don't like the sound of that.

Yeah I just think that any upside that I perceive with a OnePlus One contract that I have been advocating all year just kind of goes out the window with the qo. We can't trade him on that and at the end of the season we won't have any real advantage in keeping him if he happens to turn it around and play very well. The one plus one deal fixes all of that and the only difference for us is Cap hit this year but I really don't see much in the way of real targets that that would hurt us in pursuing.

The 1+1 is kind of a magic solution IMO for guys coming off their rookie deals with talent but spotty, inconsistent performance. I can see this becoming sort of another Trend that the Bulls front office starts that becomes common throughout the league similar to pick protection on trades and declining contracts.

[SensiBull]

Watch on YouTube

[SensiBull]

Watch how the whole offensive perimeter just takes a 20 sec timeout when he gets the ball.

[bad knees]

Crazy. I hadn't seen that and I put his value at around $8M/per. They have him at $7.8M.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/carmelo/zach-lavine/

538's CARMELO ranking estimates his total value over the next four years to be $27.8 M. That seems fair - 4/28, just to throw in an extra 200 K to foster good feelings.

He's not going to think he's an 8 million a year guy though. I'd humor him and tell him to prove it and go as high as two years 30 million total. He obviously likes Chicago if he comes back after two years and is actually a good starter then they can talk about paying him like one long term.

Of course this assumes that the market for him isn't perfectly in line with what CARMELO sees. If it is, then **** it, no reason to offer him anything but what it will take to match.

I'd do 1+1 for 15 M per year, with the Bulls having until next year mid-July to decide whether to exercise the option for the second year. Let him prove his worth. Also gives the Bulls flexibility next summer - they could decline the option and have room for two max FAs if a potential pair of star players expresses interest.

[SensiBull]

The only thing missing is Fred Hoiberg with a little stool, a little white chalkboard and some markers.

[johnnyvann840]

Watch how the whole offensive perimeter just takes a 20 sec timeout when he gets the ball.

It is seriously crazy how everybody just stops dead as soon as he touches the ball. Lopez does give him a nice screen at about :40 but yeah, it is hard to watch. No surprise how or why the Bulls just become such a horrible team on both ends when he is on the floor. It's amazing. He touches the ball, it never leaves his hands and the rest of the team just stops moving almost instantly. Mind numbing stuff.

[chrispatrick]

I'm too lazy to link it but the CARMELO projection on 538 for Lavine is horrifying.

Yep, I don't know the rules on linking but that the objective data on that projection says you're better off without LaVine than a free LaVine (even taking into account his age and projected improvement for someone of similar age).

I don't know that even I'd go that far, that's just what the straight numbers tell you.

The numbers may not always be right, but the objective data against LaVine's value is very, very strong.

[SensiBull]

The coaching staff just got to see it to it that Zach doesn't get trapped into hero ball mode when it is unnecessary. And Dunn got to avoid the "my turn to take over" mindset at times too.

Hundred percent.

The difference is, Dunn has at least shown himself ABLE to distribute and get others involved.

12 assists against Charlotte and Milwaukee
14 assists against Cleveland
11 assists against Washington


What other than hero ball has Zach shown himself able to even play?

You would never even know that Zach came into the league billed as being able to play Point Guard.

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/zach-lavine

https://247sports.com/player/zach-lavine-19963

https://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/minnesota-timberwolves-zach-lavine-point-guard-might-be-getting-better-playing-111715

You would think that coming off an injury would be the PERFECT time to get other people involved, unless you simply don't possess any other skill to bear.

[TheSuzerain]

In my opinion that almost guarantees he'll play for the qualifying offer. He'll just be so angry.

I consider the qualifying offer a very bad scenario.

You make it clear to him that signing the qualifying offer will result in him getting Noel'd and benched.

that would be a great way to never get any FAs and to get a grievance filed against Chicago. Christ, do you ever think sometimes before you post this stuff?

There are only about 300 jobs in the NBA. It's a very, very, very small clique. You don't piss in anybody's cheerios like that without it spilling all over yourself.

Dallas did it. Doesn't seemed to have affected them.

[Indomitable]

In my opinion that almost guarantees he'll play for the qualifying offer. He'll just be so angry.

I consider the qualifying offer a very bad scenario.

You make it clear to him that signing the qualifying offer will result in him getting Noel'd and benched.

that would be a great way to never get any FAs and to get a grievance filed against Chicago. Christ, do you ever think sometimes before you post this stuff?

There are only about 300 jobs in the NBA. It's a very, very, very small clique. You don't piss in anybody's cheerios like that without it spilling all over yourself.

The jimmy got traded crowd still are quite angr

[Indomitable]

In my opinion that almost guarantees he'll play for the qualifying offer. He'll just be so angry.

I consider the qualifying offer a very bad scenario.

You make it clear to him that signing the qualifying offer will result in him getting Noel'd and benched.

that would be a great way to never get any FAs and to get a grievance filed against Chicago. Christ, do you ever think sometimes before you post this stuff?

There are only about 300 jobs in the NBA. It's a very, very, very small clique. You don't piss in anybody's cheerios like that without it spilling all over yourself.

The jimmy got traded crowd still are quite angry.

[SensiBull]

That Fox Sports link I posted above is from November 2015, and it's prophetic:

"For some reason, the Timberwolves are still playing Zach LaVine at point guard consistently.

It's not that LaVine is lacking in talent. No one will argue he lacks the physical ability, athleticism or shooting touch to take care of the ball and run an offense. The decision-making, though, hasn't been there in the absence of the Wolves' usual point guard Ricky Rubio, who's been sidelined with an injury.

Yet, Sam Mitchell is sticking with LaVine, who has a scorer's mentality, seeming like he's always looking for his own shot. Maybe, though, LaVine is starting to improve. Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune says that's the case"

https://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/minnesota-timberwolves-zach-lavine-point-guard-might-be-getting-better-playing-111715

Yet, here we are in June 2018 talking about throwing $20 MM at him for 2 years in a row, still waiting for him to get others involved.

[Truebiscuit]

K.C. Johnson said on the radio that the Bulls are prepared for a team in the Western Conference to make a run at Zach LaVine. He speculates it will average $20M or more per season. He said he doesn't have the specific team yet, but said he will soon.

[Truebiscuit]

For the 2018 season, a contract averaging $20M would rank 38th in the NBA (tied with Ryan Anderson).

[madvillian]

For the 2018 season, a contract averaging $20M would rank 38th in the NBA (tied with Ryan Anderson).

If that happens good because it means an easy decision letting him walk and I'd think the Bulls would be of the same mind. Some team offering him a reasonable 3 years 45 million will be harder to walk away from, but probably just as good of a decision long term.

I still think he's going to be shocked at the offers he receives and at that point the Bulls will have a "come to Jesus" moment with him and offer him a 2 year "prove it" deal.

[Red Larrivee]

I'm too lazy to link it but the CARMELO projection on 538 for Lavine is horrifying.

Crazy. I hadn't seen that and I put his value at around $8M/per. They have him at $7.8M.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/carmelo/zach-lavine/

This also says that Marcus Smart is worth $135 million over the next five years.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Truebiscuit]

For the 2018 season, a contract averaging $20M would rank 38th in the NBA (tied with Ryan Anderson).

If that happens good because it means an easy decision letting him walk and I'd think the Bulls would be of the same mind. Some team offering him a reasonable 3 years 45 million will be harder to walk away from, but probably just as good of a decision long term.

I still think he's going to be shocked at the offers he receives and at that point the Bulls will have a "come to Jesus" moment with him and offer him a 2 year "prove it" deal.

I just don't know who has that kind of money to throw at him save for Los Angeles and Sacramento.

[Nikola]

K.C. Johnson said on the radio that the Bulls are prepared for a team in the Western Conference to make a run at Zach LaVine. He speculates it will average $20M or more per season. He said he doesn't have the specific team yet, but said he will soon.

With Rivers traded i can really see LAC going after him. Bleh

[TheEndIsNigh]

For the 2018 season, a contract averaging $20M would rank 38th in the NBA (tied with Ryan Anderson).

That doesn’t make it any less awful.