Bulls front office facing crisis, 'no market' for All-Star shooting guard

Bulls front office facing crisis, 'no market' for All-Star shooting guard

The Chicago Bulls have been trying to trade their All-Star shooting guard for a calendar year, but it now appears he will be wearing a Bulls uniform this season.

As NBA free agency begins for real on Sunday, Chicago's first priority remains clear: trade Zach LaVine as soon as possible.

Unfortunately for the Bulls' front office, the market for LaVine is disastrously near zero.

Chicago's desperation has it attaching a first-round pick to LaVine to entice suitors, and still, no one's interested. ESPN's front office insider Bobby Marks reported this sad reality for the Bulls on Sunday morning.

"Literally there is no market for Zach LaVine," Marks said. "(The Bulls) are trying to give him away and attach a first-round pick -- I've been told that by multiple, multiple people -- and that is not happening. So, if there is no unloading of the LaVine contract, then (DeMar) DeRozan is just basically hanging in the wind."

Chicago can't re-sign DeRozan without trading LaVine. Bulls executive Artūras Karnišovas has continually expressed his desire to retain DeRozan, but that's no longer happening unless LaVine's value magically rises in the next few days.

All signs point to Chicago bringing back LaVine for the 2024-25 season, and the sooner Bulls fans accept this inevitability, the better.

Karnišovas and general manager Marc Eversley would also do well to accept LaVine's fate, as it will provide them with clarity on Chicago's cap heading into the crucial first hours of free agency.

The Bulls need to sign a center, and LaVine's situation stands to steal from their wallet.

It's about to be an interesting 48 hours for Chicago.

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