While Zach LaVine said he had an “open mind” about NBA free agency, he decided to stay with the Chicago Bulls. The team offered him a five-year contract extension with a player option for the fifth season.
“I went into the offseason with an open mind,” LaVine said. “I laid out my goals just like I always have. And once I was able to meet with (Bulls management), and they came to me with everything that I wanted, there was no other reason for me to go outside and look at any other teams.
“Chicago is my home. We’ve built something over the last—well, at least for me, I’ve been here for five years—and over the last two, three, built something. Being able to come back as a cornerstone piece and allowing them to get some of my insights, some of my input in constructing the roster to help me and help us win, was really big for me.”
He further said that turning down the Bulls’ offer “would’ve been disrespectful”. As a result, he said he did not meet with any other teams during free agency.
“I think that would’ve been, for me, disrespectful on my end because they gave me everything that I asked for,” he said. “Everything on the table that I looked at had Chicago as all the pros. I did my due diligence on my own time as well and looked at things and made a decision for me and my family. But my heart was in Chicago.”
LaVine insisted that he had outplayed his previous contract after he had become a two-time All-Star within the four-year period. He signed a $78 million contract in 2018 and wanted to be respected with the deal. The Bulls met his demands, earning him the largest contract in team history, more than any other team could have offered him.
Playing through pain
This will be LaVine’s sixth season playing with the Bulls since he first joined the team from the Minnesota Timberwolves. He missed most of the first season in Chicago, appearing in only 24 games after recovering from a left knee injury he sustained while playing for Minnesota.
Since then, the 27-year-old has become one of the most prominent faces on the team. In his first four seasons with Chicago, the Bulls missed the playoffs before a change in roster brought in Nikola Vucevic, DeMar DeRozan, and Lonzo Ball. The Bulls made their first playoffs since 2017 last season.
LaVine averaged 24.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 67 games last season. He spent most of the second half of the season taking care of his left knee injury that required surgery. Despite being physically limited at some points of the season, he continued playing through the injury.
“I feel way better,” LaVine said on Monday. “I’ve been rehabbing, working out, playing, lifting, doing all the good stuff and boring stuff, too. You have to start slow, like always. It’s been good and I feel really good, and over the next two months, getting back into the season I feel like I’m gonna be even better.”