The Zach LaVine era has officially ended in Chicago.
The Chicago Bulls are sending the two-time All-Star to the Sacramento Kings in a three-team trade also headlined by De’Aaron Fox, a source confirmed to the Tribune. ESPN was the first to report the news.
The Bulls will receive Tre Jones and Zach Collins from the San Antonio Spurs and Kevin Huerter from the Sacramento Kings in the trade in addition to their own 2025 draft pick from the Spurs, per a report from ESPN.
LaVine’s tenure with the Bulls has been beleaguered by trade chatter, which only intensified last season after the guard requested the front office begin to explore options to move on from Chicago. That effort did not result in a trade as LaVine struggled to play through a foot injury that ultimately cut his 2023-24 season short ahead of the trade deadline.
But LaVine vindicated himself this year — and rebuilt his trade value in the process — with one of the most efficient seasons of his career, averaging 24 points while shooting 51.1% from the floor and 44.6% from 3-point range. His composure off the court as a locker room leader drew open praise from coaches, teammates and executives around the Bulls, who saw LaVine approaching the game with a renewed focus and responsibility.
“I can be a star in whatever situation I’m in,” LaVine told the Tribune in November. “I’m still super effective — and I’m going to keep it that way. I understand what I have to do for the team. I’ve tried to really embrace and accept that role, whether that’s taking the challenge defensively, being a facilitator, or even fitting into a role, helping guys out and then asserting myself when I need to.”
In the seven years since he was traded to Chicago from the Minnesota Timberwolves, LaVine weathered two coaching changes and six losing seasons with the Bulls. The team made the playoffs just once at the conclusion of the only winning season of LaVine’s time with the Bulls, which resulted in a 4-1 first-round exit at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks.
There was a time when LaVine and the Bulls appeared to be headed in the right direction. The Bulls brought in Nikola Vučević, Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan to craft an offensive vision centered around LaVine, who earned back-to-back All-Star designations. And it worked, ever so briefly, as the Bulls climbed to the top of the league standings before crashing back down and out of the playoffs in 2022.
Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine speaks to Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan at the United Center on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
That project finally ended last summer, when DeMar DeRozan departed in free agency and the Bulls began the process of reshaping the roster by trading Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder. LaVine and DeRozan will now reunite in Sacramento, where the Kings are attempting to stay afloat in a competitive Western Conference.
After three years of standing pat at the trade deadline, this move marks a major victory for executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas, allowing the Bulls to finally begin a rebuilding process that is years overdue. The trade immediately removes the largest roadblock for the Bulls in their attempt to restructure the roster — LaVine’s supermax contract, a five-year, $250 million deal with a player option extending into the 2026-27 season.
But the Bulls once again failed to gain significant draft capital in a trade for a highly valued player. The only draft asset the Bulls acquired in this trade is the rights to their own 2025 draft pick, which was previously a top-10 protected pick.
The Bulls are currently in position to retain that pick as they sit in the bottom third of the NBA standings. If the pick was not conveyed this year, however, it would have only kicked the issue down the road as they would have owed either a 2026 first-round pick (top-8 protected), a 2027 first-round pick (top-8 protected) or a 2028 second-round pick to the Spurs to complete the deal.
This would have been debilitating for the Bulls, who would have needed to finish among the bottom eight teams in the league for two more seasons to protect that first-round pick. The team can now operate with more freedom through full ownership of their first-rounder.
Still, after failing to recoup a single pick while trading Caruso — one of the best defensive assets in the league — to the Thunder, the Bulls front office has sunk into a pattern of selling low on the team’s top talent.
Karnišovas aims to complete more moves ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. The Bulls are still interested in moving several pieces, including center Nikola Vučević. By the end of this week, the Bulls roster will likely undergo significant change — paving the way for Karnišovas’ second attempt at building a contender in Chicago.
LaVine did not play in the last three games with the Bulls to be with his wife Hunter for the birth of their third child. His final game in a Bulls jersey occurred last Monday, a quiet 21-point performance in an upset win over the Denver Nuggets.
LaVine spent longer than expected on the bench in his final night with the team — but he didn’t mind. The Bulls had gained an unexpected upper hand on the Nuggets in the fourth quarter due to a flurry of activity from a secondary rotation led by guard Ayo Dosunmu and rookie Matas Buzelis. When coach Billy Donovan told LaVine he wanted to let the young guys run a little longer, the veteran agreed with a smile.
“I was like, ‘Man, this, this is the way that we’re supposed to be playing,’” LaVine said after the win.
The future of the Bulls now belongs to those young players. The Bulls will finish the season without the scoring and leadership that buoyed this roster to the meager successes of this 21-29 season.
Whether the franchise can find success in the future will rely on the results of the next three days before the trade deadline — and the ensuing 2025 draft, where the next era of the franchise will truly begin.
Originally Published: February 2, 2025 at 8:01 PM CST
