You really haven’t lived until you’ve gotten caught up in the Zach LaVine trade-rumor mill. This has been going on for, what, five years, and shame on you for not catching a weekly buzz off wondering who might be a suitor for the Bulls star’s services. Or why no one seems to want a guy who can score 30 points in his sleep.
The NBA had a blockbuster trade on Saturday night, and, no, it didn’t involve LaVine, mostly because it never does and mostly because Bulls vice president Artūras Karnišovas doesn’t seem to do much of anything. Last year, when the Bulls traded Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey and then DeMar DeRozan for Chris Duarte and two second-round picks, it was the Bulls’ first trades involving actual players since 2021.
Well, sure, you can understand why Karnišovas would be so protective of the team’s talent. The Bulls’ record, in order, since he arrived in 2020: 31-41, 46-36, 40-42, 39-43 and 21-28. Here’s a towel to wipe off the sarcasm.
The Mavericks are sending Luka Doncic to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis as part of a three-team trade. A deal of that magnitude, involving two of the game’s biggest stars, never occurred to me, so the idea of the Bulls acquiring either player would have been like imagining pigs in flight.
It brings up a broader question: What’s the point of the Bulls, their essence? It doesn’t seem to involve winning. If it did, there would have been some hint of movement, some suggestion of action. There would be trades. But Karnišovas doesn’t do anything quickly. Though I have no proof, I suspect he wears cement shoes. The Bulls don’t seem to be about entertainment, either, unless your idea of a show is watching a team with a 21-28 record do the same thing game after game, year after year.
The Bulls’ rebuild from the rock-bottom season of 22-60 in 2018-19 has led to a lot of mediocrity. If this is a three-story building project, it stopped somewhere on the second floor, not out of a lack of funds but out of a lack of energy. Standing pat isn’t a strategy as much as it’s a way of life with this franchise. A petrified rock would have found a way to get something for LaVine.
Why don’t the Bulls do more, or at least something? What is the point of Karnišovas’ continued employment? Why do Bulls fans continue to go to games? These are some of life’s great mysteries, but gobs of money, ineptitude and blind loyalty aren’t a bad start if you’re looking for answers.
LaVine is sort of Doncic Lite, a guy who can score, pass and rebound. OK, very lite. Doncic is a superstar, a walking, talking triple-double machine. LaVine is a star. Big difference.
But they do have a few things in common. Neither has won an NBA title. When watching them do their thing, I always feel like I’m … watching them do their thing. The roster seems to be there for the sole purpose of helping them get the most out of their game. If they’re going to get 10 assists, they’re going to need someone to accept their passes. If they’re going to get 10 rebounds, they’re going to need teammates to block out or miss shots on the offensive end. If they’re going to score 30 points, they’re going to need people to set screens for them or, short of that, to get the hell out of the way.
This is why the grand experiment with the Lakers and LeBron James is so important for how Doncic will be remembered. He wasn’t going to win a championship in Dallas. Perhaps a change of scenery will make a difference. The hunch here is that an aging LeBron and a market that cares more about entertainment value than winning will continue to make Doncic a zoo exhibit. See the seal balance the beach ball on his nose.
LaVine will never break out of the mold that I and others have fitted him for without going to another team. And even then, it’s doubtful. Eleven years in the league, you are what you are.
He can blame Karnišovas for sitting too long on the shiny idea of the Big Three – LaVine, DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic. It didn’t work, yet the Michael Reinsdorf-led franchise took ages to figure that out.
The NBA trade deadline is Thursday. Feel free to get caught up in the speculation that this is finally the year the Bulls trade Lavine, or Vucevic, for that matter. But if remaining alive is a goal of yours, I wouldn’t hold your breath.