Bulls Rumors: Latest Buzz Surrounding Zach LaVine and David Nwaba
The Chicago Bulls may not be in the LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard discussions, as executive vice president John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman appear to be more interested in building through the draft than adding a big-time free agent.
However, the Bulls have a free agent of their own that they have to make a decision on in Zach LaVine. Earlier in the year, he appeared to be the centerpiece the Bulls were building their team around. That may still be the case, but the feeling within the organization is not as widely held as it was earlier.
LaVine was the key acquisition for the Bulls in the Jimmy Butler trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
When the Bulls acquired LaVine, he was coming off ACL surgery and was not able to play until midseason this year. He was limited in his early appearances by the team's medical and coaching staff in terms of his minutes played, but he still averaged 16.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per night.
LaVine is a restricted free agent and while they don't always get a lot of attention, that may not be the case with the 23-year-old, because Chicago Tribune reporter K.C. Johnson tweeted that the Sacramento Kings have interest in the Bulls' swing guard.
Johnson wrote that the Kings will be in a position to offer a four-year, $80 million deal to LaVine.
If the Bulls wanted to offer LaVine a max contract, they could come up with a five-year, $147 million deal. That seems unlikely at this point, but they still have a strong interest in keeping him on the team.
"We value Zach," Paxson said, per Johnson. "We have a great relationship with his representation, Bill Duffy. We're hopeful we can find the right resolution for both sides.”
The Bulls can match any offer that comes LaVine's way, but they will have to decide if keeping him on the team is what they want.
Johnson also reported shooting guard David Nwaba received a qualifying offer of $1.7 million for the upcoming season.
The upshot of that offer is that the Bulls want the 6'4" shooting guard on their team for the foreseeable future. The 25-year-old averaged 7.9 points per game and connected on 47.8 percent of his shots from the field in 70 games. He also averaged 4.7 rebounds per game.
His contribution was unexpected, considering he played in just 20 games in 2016-17 with the Lakers. However, he grew and has made himself a valuable performer that the Bulls want to keep in the fold.
