Zach LaVine feels like he’s been permanently stapled to the trade block during his NBA career. LaVine has already been traded twice in his first 11 seasons in the league: the Minnesota Timberwolves sent him to the Chicago Bulls after his third year as part of the Jimmy Butler deal, and Chicago then traded him to the Sacramento Kings earlier this season to get its own first-round pick back in the 2025 NBA Draft.
LaVine probably shouldn’t get too comfortable in Sacramento after the team fired lead decision-maker Monte McNair and hired Scott Perry following its discouraging loss in the play-in tournament. The Kings’ grand idea of recreating the 2021-2024 Bulls in the Western Conference with LaVine and DeMar DeRozan was a predictably doomed experiment, and there are a few signs pointing to another rebuild coming in Sacramento.
Domantas Sabonis was blunt in his assessment of the team’s issues following their elimination in the play-in tournament, saying Sacramento needs a point guard after De’Aaron Fox pushed his way to San Antonio a few months ago. The big man also reportedly wants clarity on the Kings’ direction this offseason. Will that vision for the future include LaVine? It seems unlikely after Perry’s old comments about the scorer resurfaced this week.
Perry openly questioned LaVine’s impact on winning during a podcast appearance in 2023. He pointed to LaVine’s large contract and lack of playoff success, saying he’d be best as a third option in any team context. Watch the clip from 2023 here:
Former Knicks GM Scott Perry on HoopGenius: “No question that Zach LaVine can score the basketball…Does he impact winning? Zach LaVine has been to 1 playoff series in 9 years. He’s played a total of 4 playoff basketball games…I’m looking at $40, $43, $46 & $49 million for a guy… pic.twitter.com/fEl40O8pK6
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) November 21, 2023
“There’s no question that Zach LaVine can score the basketball,” Perry begins. “But does he impact winning?”
It’s a question that has followed LaVine for his entire career. It’s become an even bigger issue after he signed a five-year, $215 million max contract with the Bulls in the summer of 2022.
In fairness to LaVine, he put together a put together a tremendous season as a scorer this year. LaVine averaged 23.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game this season on ridiculously good 63.9 percent true shooting between his stops in Chicago and Sacramento. He shot 44.6 percent on three-pointers this season, which ranked second-best in the league behind Charlotte’s Seth Curry. While Curry attempted 182 threes as a low-volume bench shooter, LaVine attempted 536 threes on a much tougher shot diet, making his accuracy way more impressive.
LaVine’s combination of volume scoring and scoring efficiency is only matched by the greatest players in the game. Only five players averaged at least 23 points per game on at least 63 percent true shooting this year: Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant, Karl-Anthony Towns, and LaVine. At the same time, LaVine’s poor defense, shaky decision-making, and long-standing crunch-time woes have always held back his value as a player.
In LaVine’s defense, he was miscast as a top option for most of his best years in Chicago. Imagine LaVine’s elite shooting and off-ball scoring next to a true superstar like Nikola Jokic or prime Joel Embiid. Some players are lucky enough to find a perfect role during their careers, but that hasn’t happened for LaVine yet.
LaVine makes $47.5 million next season in 2025-2026, and then has a player option for $48.9 million for 2026-2027. He just turned 30 years old. It stands to reason that LaVine might have more trade value as his contract gets closer to expiration. Would he opt out of his deal in the summer of 2026 to seek more long-term money if he replicates his fantastic scoring numbers again next year?
The Denver Nuggets reportedly had interest in LaVine at the trade deadline this year, but Chicago didn’t want Michael Porter Jr. back. The Los Angeles Clippers feel like another potential fit depending on how their playoff run goes. The Orlando Magic are an obvious fit in the East after finishing dead-last in three-point shooting percentage this season.
LaVine will likely be traded again, and hopefully he finds a better organization for his sake. It’s hard to do worse than the pre-Tim Connelly Timberwolves, Bulls, and Kings. Here’s hoping LaVine can find a good organization and better role while he’s still in his prime.
