Warriors Named Worst Landing Spot for $215 Million Star

“That game, which is more “hooper” than “basketball player,” would be trickier to assimilate into a Warriors scheme that has long emphasized ball and player movement,” Bailey wrote on September 16. “There’s a lot less ‘your turn, my turn’ in Golden State. And though that offense probably needs some juice, too, LaVine probably isn’t the right source of it.”

The Bulls offered LaVine early in the offseason, but according to NBA insider Chris Haynes, the Warriors declined.

“I was told that the Chicago Bulls were trying to get something going with the Golden State Warriors trying to get a Zach Lavine package together,” Haynes reported at the start of the NBA free agency on June 30. “You know what I was told? It could have been Zach Lavine for Chris Paul and Andrew Wiggins.

What was explained to me was that the Warriors didn’t feel that was an adequate amount for a deal structure. So things didn’t go as planned. So that fell through, which led to the Golden State Warriors choosing to release Chris Paul, and I was told it was Mike Dunleavy, the general manager, who called Chris Paul and gave him the news.”

LaVine has three seasons left on his five-year, $215 million deal with a $48.9 million player option for the 2026-27 season.

Paul was eventually released as the Warriors did not pick up his $30 million player option. The 12-time NBA All-Star point guard signed with the San Antonio Spurs once he became a free agent.

Zach LaVine’s Zero Market

The Warriors turned down the Bulls’ offer despite a deal that would have kept their draft capital and young players intact for another star trade down the road.

They could have leveraged the situation and asked for a draft compensation from the Bulls, who are desperately seeking to get out of LaVine’s contract.

“There is no market for Zach Lavine,” ESPN’s front office insider Bobby Marks reported before free agency in July. “They are trying to give him away and attach a first-round pick. I’ve been told that by multiple, multiple people.”

But the Warriors view LaVine, whose injury history have severely damaged his value around the league, as a net negative asset.

But a change of scenery might rejuvenate LaVine as the two-time All-Star guard has “expressed his frustration with the constant losing” in Chicago, according to ESPN’s Jamal Collier.

Andrew Wiggins Mourns Father’s Death

Wiggins is mourning the death of his father, former NBA player Mitchell Wiggins, who passed away last week.

He was 64.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported in 2022 that Wiggin’s father has been dealing with a serious medical condition, which explained the Warriors forward’s mysterious personal absences over the past two seasons.

Wiggins missed two months of the 2022-23 NBA season then missed another four games last season. He also He canceled a business trip to China this offseason due to a family emergency, which was surmised to be related to his father’s medical condition.