The Chicago Bulls finally offloaded Zach LaVine after months of attempting to shed his unwieldy contract.

All it took was the Sacramento Kings haphazardly jumping ship on De’Aaron Fox to give Chicago the perfect window of opportunity. LaVine will reunite with DeMar DeRozan in Sactown, while Fox gets rerouted to the San Antonio Spurs. The Bulls are left with all the spare parts, essentially, acquiring Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, and their own 2025 first-round pick, which San Antonio previously owned (top-10 protected).

This is an extremely underwhelming return for Chicago, all things considered. LaVine’s contract was clearly an inhibitor to past trade attempts, but the high annual dollar value ($43 million) seems to be overshadowing legitimate productivity. He’s averaging 24.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.5 assists on .511/.446/.797 splits this season. Those are All-Star numbers.

This is an extremely underwhelming return for Chicago, all things considered. LaVine’s contract was clearly an inhibitor to past trade attempts, but the high annual dollar value ($43 million) seems to be overshadowing legitimate productivity. He’s averaging 24.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.5 assists on .511/.446/.797 splits this season. Those are All-Star numbers.

When healthy, LaVine is extremely impactful, and he should help the Kings stay afloat without Fox. His knockdown shooting, quick first step, and elite finishing is a potent combination. The Bulls are finally rebuilding in earnest, which is great, but basically giving up on your best player for a few bench cogs and your own first-round pick, which probably would’ve conveyed anyways, is… a bummer.

Chicago’s lineup is starting to look a bit wonky, which is exactly what this front office wants. The more L’s the Bulls can stack, the higher their odds of landing Cooper Flagg or another impact talent near the top of the 2025 NBA Draft.

Here’s how the Bulls lineup shakes out with LaVine gone and more changes on the horizon.

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Chicago has been running extremely small lineups of late. There’s a world in which Patrick Williams reclaims his starting spot, but this group is probably their best path to offensive proficiency — especially with the non-shooting Josh Giddey taking center stage.

Giddey essentially runs point and guards power forwards. Lonzo Ball and Ayo Dosunmu are guards by trade, but both are effective spot-up shooters with connective instincts. Lonzo’s rapid-fire processing, excellent positional rebounding, and penchant for kickstarting transition opportunities is quite useful for this unit.

Nikola Vucevic, for now, is Chicago’s offensive centerpiece in the middle. He should get even more touches in the middle of the floor, where he’s asked to either create against a size mismatch or make quality decisions as a passing hub. How much longer Vucevic actually remains in Chicago, however, remains to be seen. That Feb. 6 trade deadline is right around the corner.

Vucevic is a strong trade candidate, while Lonzo’s inevitable buyout looms large. The Bulls are officially rebuilding, so expect the front office and coaching staff to start prioritizing the youth movement. A few more moves could open the door for Matas Buzelis to start, for example. The rookie has strung together three straight double-digit scoring efforts. He is quite possibly Chicago’s best asset, sad as that sounds.

Tre Jones and Kevin Huerter should get plenty of run with the second unit. This is a great opportunity for Huerter in particular to turn things around after a bumpy campaign in Sacramento. Once a postseason hero in Atlanta and an ascendent role-playing star for the Kings, Huerter might revive his reputation with less pressure and more touches. Jones, ever the steady-handed point guard, should do a lot of good for a rebuilding team looking to evenly distribute touches.

Chicago is going to make more moves, so don’t get too attached to this lineup.