Bulls sign Zach LaVine to contract richer than anything MJ ever signed
It goes without saying that Michael Jordan is the greatest Chicago Bulls player of all time. Zach LaVine, objectively, is nowhere near Jordan.
Yes, NBA teams gross far more money these days than they did during Jordan’s career.
But even given that, something just seems wrong about Lavine signing a deal that totals more than anything Jordan ever signed as a player.
LaVine was offered a four-year, $78 million contract by the Sacramento Kings. LaVine, still just 23, was a restricted free agent, so the Bulls had the right to match the deal.
Frankly, they should’ve let him walk.
Instead, the Bulls matched the deal, eating into their copius cap space next season (before matching the Kings’ offer, the Bulls were slated to have enough cap space to sign two max free agents next year), and now have someone who may never improve beyond a “good stats on a bad team” player.
Jordan signed an eight-year, $25 million deal in 1988, before signing one-year deals in 1996 and 1997 worth $30 and $33 million dollars respectively. To say that he earned every penny of those contracts would be a vast understatement. Jordan finished his career with six NBA championships, six NBA Finals MVPs, five regular season MVPs and an entire medly of All-NBA and All-Defensive nominations.
The only thing LaVine has that is comparable to Jordan are a pair of Slam Dunk Contest championships.
And yet, due to the way the NBA salary cap has exploded in recent years, as well as the wonky machinations of restricted free agency, LaVine will get to enjoy the type of financial boon that Jordan never received from the Bulls.
LaVine, who could generously be described as an inefficient scorer (he’s never shot better than 45 percent from the field, including a paltry 38 percent last season), was the centerpiece of what is rapidly turning into a disatrous trade for ex-Bulls All-Star Jimmy Butler. He’s also still recovering from a torn ACL that limited him to 71 games in the past two seasons.
If LaVine is such an ineffficient scorer, one would assume that he may have some defensive chops to merit such a lucrative deal.
One would assume wrong.
It’s not abundantly clear that LaVine can offer more on defense than an actual turnstile. At least the turnstile would offer the most minimal of resistance against opposing players.
Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson issued a statement after matching the Kings’ offer, saying the Bulls were “thrilled” to keep LaVine.
John Paxson’s full statement on Zach LaVine after the Bulls matched today to retain the restricted free agent shooting guard. pic.twitter.com/fMyBYHkLsO
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) July 8, 2018
Notice that not once did Paxson refer to LaVine as a “star.” Former San Antonio Spurs defensive specialist Bruce Bowen was an “impact player.” Not once did anyone think he deserved nearly $20 million a year.
Perhaps most alarming is the fact that LaVine simply hasn’t won anything of substance in the NBA. LaVine’s teams have won 16, 29, 31 and 27 games in each of his four NBA seasons.
If LaVvine were the same type of player, but was on consistent playoff teams, his deal might begin to make semblance of sense. Basketball is certainly a team sport, but it’s not unreasonable to expect a player with “a relentless work ethic,” “a visible passion,” and “honed skills” to at least have one playoff appearance.
At the end of the day, the LaVine signing is just the latest step in the Bulls march toward irrelevancy. Barring a brief blip during the Derrick Rose “era,” the Bulls have fallen a long way from the lofty championship expectations set by Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson. And there’s absolutely no reason to think that LaVine’s deal will change that.
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