Zach LaVine has remained on the trade block for over a year as the Chicago Bulls have fallen into complete mediocrity. The market had been largely silent on LaVine due to concerns about teams receiving a high salary under the new CBA, but a potential suitor finally emerged on Tuesday night.
denver Nuggets reportedly have 'significant' interest in LaVine According to a reporter from The Athletic, the NBA trade deadline is approaching on February 6th. Reporters Sam Amick and Tony Jones said the Nuggets are casting a wide net for potential help, including Cameron Johnson, Jordan Clarkson, DeAndre Hunter and Jordan Poole. LaVine may be the best player of that group, and also the most attainable.
LaVine's market has been dampened by contract and injury concerns. The guard, who turns 30 in March, has two years and about $95 million left on his contract after this season. He missed last year for foot surgery and also suffered a torn ACL in 2017, but has been pretty durable for the most part since joining the Bulls in the Jimmy Butler trade later that year. I've done it.
At his best, LaVine is one of the best pure scorers in existence, a hyper-efficient volume bucket getter who combines lethal 3-point shooting with frequent rim pressure. The Nuggets offer an attractive matchup. LaVine hasn't played with a superstar like Nikola Jokic, but he'll be a question mark next to Jamal Murray on the other side of the floor.
Denver reportedly could add Michael Porter Jr. and Zeke Nagy to LaVine's trade options. LaVine and Torrey Craig will go to Denver for Porter Jr. and Nagy and count the salaries as a legal trade.
There's a lot to dig into with this rumor. Here are 11 thoughts on whether replacing LaVine and Porter Jr. makes sense for both sides, and how likely it is that this deal will happen.
LaVine will be a phenomenal off-ball scorer in Denver next to Jokic.
Only four players are averaging at least 21 points and four assists per game while shooting at least 63 percent from the field: LaVine, Jokic, Stephen Curry and Domantas Sabonis. LaVine's ability to score a lot of points from the most valuable parts of the floor in a highly efficient manner, combined with his playmaking skills, is extremely rare.
If there's an ideal superstar for LaVine to play with, it's Jokic. Calling Jokic “the greatest passing big man of all time” is underestimating him. He's one of the best passers of all time at any position, and one of the best offensive players the game has ever seen. LaVine is at his best when he is an off-ball scorer who can break spot-up threes and attack closeouts. In Chicago, he had to make everything himself, except for a brief stint with Lonzo Ball in 2021, when the Bulls looked great. If LaVine continues to embrace his off-ball role, teaming up with Jokic could lead to great offensive results.
LaVine fixes Nuggets' driving and three-point volume issues
The Nuggets rank last in three-point percentage, or the percentage of field goal attempts made from three-pointers. He ranks 28th in the NBA in drives per game with 37.1. Denver leads the NBA in shot frequency thanks in large part to Jokic, but it would certainly be nice to have another player who can put pressure on opposing defenses off the dribble. Lavigne can do it.
LaVine is attempting 10.2 three-pointers per 100 possessions this year, compared to Porter's 8.0. Porter has made slightly more 3PAs per 100 in his career, but LaVine has been more accurate this year (42.8 percent) and is a willing shooter. LaVine's drives have slowed down a bit this year as Chicago transitioned to a new offense, but his background as a plus-lim attacker and rim finisher should give Denver a dimension they don't currently have.
The Bulls' biggest consideration is a top-10 protected draft pick.
Why would Chicago trade for a lower quality player, a worse contract for Nnaji (more on him later), and no draft compensation? Now, the Bulls' 2025 first-round draft pick will go to San Antonio unless they fall into the top 10. Currently, the Bulls are in 10th place in the lottery standings and have had the misfortune of giving up draft picks in a rebuilding year. The Bulls need to make things worse, and trading LaVine in the middle of an All-Star season would do the trick.
The Bulls could flip Michael Porter Jr., but they probably won't.
What the Bulls really need in a LaVine trade is future draft equity. No team seems to be willing to part with LaVine's first-rounder at this point, as the Nuggets have nothing to offer and each club is concerned about LaVine's salary. This trade would split LaVine into two smaller contracts, potentially making it easier to trade Porter Jr. for a first-round pick.
MPJ has two years and $79 million left on his contract after this year. He will only be 26 years old in June, and his combination of size and shooting could make him coveted on the trade market. Will a contender give up a first round for Porter? If so, this would make the deal even better for the Bulls. I'm skeptical that Chicago will actually flip him. Here's why: a) Chief executive Arturas Karnisovas is paralyzed by indecision on the trade market, and b) Karnisovas was part of Denver's front office that drafted Porter in 2018.
Karnisovas will likely market Porter as a new piece to a young core, similar to Josh Guidy.
Porter Jr. has injury risk waiting to happen in Chicago.
LaVine is considered untradeable due in part to durability issues. Well, Porter Jr. should be considered an even bigger injury risk.
Porter Jr. has been plagued by back injuries since arriving at the University of Missouri as a top recruit. He barely played in his only college season, dropping to No. 14 in the draft as teams were concerned about the long-term durability of his hip. Porter missed his entire rookie season and was healthy until 2021, when he underwent another hip surgery and played in only nine games. Since then, he's been mostly durable, appearing in 95 of 96 games dating back to last season.
The Bulls have a terrible history with injury prevention and management. Chicago's players seem to drop like flies every year due to random injuries, which makes trading Porter Jr. a scary proposition. His back feels like a time bomb waiting to tick and there's no way I can trust the Bulls to keep him healthy.
Peyton Watson will be important to Denver if this deal falls through.
Typically, contenders don't want to go undersized heading into the playoffs. This is the Nuggets' biggest concern in a theoretical MPJ trade for LaVine. LaVine is five inches shorter and will likely form a weak defensive backcourt with Murray. The only player who could potentially help this situation is young Nuggets wing Peyton Watson. He's a super long and athletic defender, but he's still rough on the offensive end.
With Watson and Aaron Gordon, the Nuggets might have enough defense to make the Jokic-Murray-LaVine trio work. Watson's lack of offense was a little less limiting as LaVine produced more shots than Porter, but teams will still move Watson down in the playoffs and dare him to take shots.
Watson is already a really good defender at 22 years old. If he continues to develop, he could be the key to making the Nuggets' new lineup work.
Zach LaVine will be insurance for Jamal Murray in Denver
The Nuggets' biggest problem right now seems to be Jamal Murray's lack of productivity. Murray hasn't been the same player since his injury late last year. His poor performance in the 2024 playoffs gave way to a lackluster performance for Canada at the 2024 Olympics, and he hasn't been doing very well this year either. Murray's 18.4 points per game and 53.1 percent true shooting percentage are both his lowest since the beginning of his career.
Murray doesn't have the athleticism as a driver or finisher, even though he's only 27 years old. Murray has had a number of incredible performances in clutch situations in the playoffs, but unlike LaVine, he has never been a two-time All-Star. If Murray is no longer able to be Jokic's go-to offensive partner, LaVine could take his place.
Don't yell at me, but I'll take LaVine over Murray for the next 2.5 seasons without thinking twice.
Sieg Nagy is a legitimately awful contract.
Nnaji was, and still is, one of the worst players in the league statistically. three He has several years left on his contract worth about $23 million after this season. Nnaji is the type of deal that would require draft compensation just for the team to acquire him. He's not playable, so moving forward would eat into Chicago's cap space. Sadly for the Bulls, LaVine's market has shrunk so much that he may not have much impact and may just have to accept it.
Nuggets could get even more out of the Bulls
Will Chicago include Ayo Dosunmu in place of Craig in this deal? There are ways to make up the salary, but it would be unwise for the Bulls to do so without draft compensation not returning to the Nuggets. This really comes down to whether the Bulls are more desperate to keep their draft picks or the Nuggets are more desperate to shore up their roster for a playoff spot.
Karnisovas mismanaged the Lavigne situation right up until the end. He's had bad trades with the Thunder and Magic since he took over with the Bulls. Missing out on this year's draft pick will likely be his biggest mistake yet. But if they're going to trade Dosunmu for a team-friendly deal, they should find a first-round pick from another team.
LaVine's defensive ability is about the same as Porter Jr.
It's hard to quantify defense with statistical metrics, but LaVine was slightly better than Porter defensively this year despite being smaller.
LaVine is -1.1 in Defensive EPM this year, ranking in the 16th percentile. Porter is -1.6, ranking in the 6th percentile. Porter Jr. is a much better rebounder and has a slightly better defensive BPM. Replacing Porter with LaVine would make the Nuggets smaller, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'd be worse defensively.
Is this all a ploy by a former colleague to increase trade interest in Lavigne?
Karnisovas and Nuggets top executive Calvin Booth have a history dating back to their days in Denver's front office. Is it possible that this information was leaked as a favor from Booth to Karnisovas to boost the LaVine trade market, which has been silent for months? Something even crazier happened.
Evaluation of how likely this rumor will occur
6 out of 10 points
This trade makes some sense for both sides, but ultimately I think Denver will walk away if they can't get another contributor. After Denver was eliminated from the playoffs, we could see that revisited over the summer.
