How This Trade Impacts Chicago
It would be shocking to see the Chicago Bulls part with Zach LaVine. They have done a great job building up the roster around him as they look to make a push toward the postseason. But, there are some long-term concerns.
Until the pen is put to paper, there is no guarantee that LaVine remains with the Bulls beyond this season. He will be a free agent in 2022, so if the Bulls aren’t confident they will retain him, it is better to trade him for something than watch him leave for nothing in free agency.
Simmons is locked into his contract through 2025, giving Chicago some security that they don’t currently have with LaVine. Given the lack of draft capital, they have in the coming years from other moves they made, having a 25-year old All-Star locked in for the foreseeable future would make that an easier pill to swallow.
Playing alongside Nikola Vucevic would play to Simmons’s strengths offensively as well. Vucevic is one of the premier stretch big men in the NBA, providing the spacing that Simmons needs to succeed offensively.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: 76ers’ Ben Simmons Remains ‘Mentally Not Ready’ To Play
The fit alongside Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan could be clunky at times, but Ball is an improved spot-up 3-point shooter. DeRozan is another non-shooter, so Billy Donovan would have his hands full trying to scheme that.
It would be hard to imagine the Bulls trading LaVine as the ESPN article suggests, but if they are getting the feeling he will not be with the team long-term, they will have to make a tough decision about moving on from him during the season.
