The Chicago Bulls have finally ended the two-plus-year saga with two-time All-Star guard Zach LaVine, sending him to the Sacramento Kings.
In return, the Bulls receive former Atlanta Hawks first-round pick Kevin Huerter.
“BREAKING: Sacramento is finalizing a trade to send De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs in a multi-team trade that moves Chicago Bulls’ Zach LaVine to the Kings, sources tell ESPN,” ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on X on February 2.
The Bulls will also receive the rights to their 2025 first-round pick back in the deal.
“Kevin Huerter goes to Chicago as part of the De’Aaron Fox three-way trade that lands Fox in San Antonio and Zach LaVine with the Kings, league sources say,” The Stein Line’s Marc Stein reported.
Chris Haynes of “Haynes Briefs” reports the Bulls will also receive big man Zach Collins in the deal.
Huerter was a first-round pick by the Atlanta Hawks in 2018. He is averaging 7.9 points with a 53.1% effective field goal mark in Year 3 of a four-year, $65 million contract. However, he is shooting a career-low 30.2% from beyond the arc.
Jones, selected No. 41 overall in 2020, is averaging 4.4 PPG (52.7% eFG) on an expiring two-year, $19 million pact.
Collins (4.6 PPG, 51.5% eFG) is in Year 1 of a two-year, $31.8 million deal.
Zach LaVine Reunites With Former Bulls Teammate DeMar DeRozan After Kings Trade
This deal is notable for LaVine on many levels. The Kings signed him to an offer sheet when he was a restricted free agent in 2018. The Bulls quickly matched the deal, but the Kings also emerged as a potential threat during his unrestricted free agency in 2022.
LaVine re-signed with the Bulls, inking a five-year, $215.1 million contract without visiting any other teams.
LaVine is also reunited with former Bulls teammate DeMar DeRozan with this trade.
Their fit was questioned from the beginning and fizzled out, resulting in DeRozan getting traded to the Kings during the 2024 offseason. The two maintained a positive personal relationship but their basketball fit never panned out as hoped.
DeRozan is in Year 1 of a three-year, $73.9 million contract. LaVine still has two more seasons on his deal, but there is a player option for the final season.
Bulls Have Freedom to Tank
The Bulls getting back the rights to their 2025 first-round pick in the trade is a significant note. They were previously set to send it to the Spurs if it fell outside of the top 10. The pick is ninth in the lottery as of February 2, per Tankathon. They were on track to keep it even before this trade.
Now, though, they do not have to worry about it falling into the Spurs’ hands for whatever reason.
The 2025 class is also expected to be loaded with talent.
The Bulls selected Matas Buzelis with the No. 11 overall pick in 2024. But fellow recent first-round picks Patrick Williams and Dalen Terry have left them bereft of young cornerstone talent. They have long been urged to undergo a rebuild, and now they can.
The NBA trade deadline is on February 6. The Bulls could still look to trade center Nikola Vucevic before then to embrace a full rebuild.
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