There is suddenly a fine line between patience and concern, and the Bulls front office is doing its best to balance it.
According to a source on Wednesday, with many of the players that signed contracts over the summer eligible to be traded starting on Friday, executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas is still finding no real market interest in Zach LaVine.
Not that Karnisovas was believed to be concerned just yet, especially with so much time between now and the Feb. 8 trade deadline, but if attempting to move LaVine does drag on longer than hoped it will significantly alter the plans Karnisovas was looking to carry out.
With the rest of the players that signed offseason deals eligible to be dealt after Jan. 15, Karnisovas would like to have moved LaVine by or just after that date, giving him at least 10-15 games to see what the new-look Bulls would look like, and allowing him to then make a decision on the likes of DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso.
As of now, Karnisovas has no interest in trading Caruso, is still keeping the possibility of reopening contract extension talks with DeRozan and his camp on the table, and then watching how the assets he gets back for LaVine works with that group.
So far, the market hasn’t exactly been cooperating or promising.
The Bulls have been linked to both the Lakers and Raptors in the rumor mill, but multiple sources said that LaVine and his representation obviously want Los Angeles because of the Klutch Sports connection.
The Lakers players that would be eligible to be moved on Friday included Jaxson Hayes, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent and Christian Wood.
Of that group, a package featuring Russell has been thrown around the most in the rumor mill because of the money that has to come back. With LaVine making $40 million this season, Russell meets $17.3 million of it.
The other names being mentioned as possibilities in that package included Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves and Vincent. Hachimura and Reaves, however, won’t be eligible to be moved until Jan. 15, and it didn’t sound like Reaves was even being mentioned by the Lakers.
Is there a scenario in which the Bulls and LaVine stay together the remainder of this season and re-explore a new home for the two-time All-Star next summer?
Almost unlikely.
Another source said that while the relationship between LaVine and coach Billy Donovan is still amicable, it is completely broken from a professional standpoint, mostly on LaVine’s end. The guard would rather make ripples than waves, but also no longer wants to play for Donovan and really hasn’t since last season.
And what about the other scenario in all of this?
What if the market starts to get serious the next month, Karnisovas is able to move LaVine and still get back the ready-made players he desires to try and make a playoff push? It will be difficult to pull off and could still keep the Bulls a very mediocre product, but would allow the Bulls and DeRozan to make some decisions on his financial future.
DeRozan is all for an extension with the Bulls if the money and situation are right for him, and what Karnisovas doesn’t want happening is DeRozan leaving this summer and getting nothing in return.
