3 reasons the Chicago Bulls should not match Zach LaVine’s offer

Now that the Sacramento Kings have made an offer to Zach LaVine, the Chicago Bulls have a huge decision to make.

Earlier in the week, there were reports that the Sacramento Kings were extremely interested in Chicago Bull’s free agent Zach LaVine. Many insiders believed they would aggressively pursue LaVine by making a significant offer in free agency. LaVine added a little fuel to the fire when he liked a tweet from De’Aaron Fox.

However, almost around the same time, reports seemed to circulate that the Kings were not as certain about LaVine as some speculated. In hindsight that looks to have either been incorrect or a misinformation campaign. That’s because early this evening, the Kings signed LaVine to an offer sheet — and a significant one at that.

The terms of the deal are being reported as 4 years for a total of $80 million. Now I’m no math wizard, but that’s an annual salary of $20 million. That’s a fairly serious offer for the twenty-three-year-old wing. What’s also interesting about the deal is that it far exceeded what Bulls reporter Nick Friedell speculated would be a fair deal on Twitter. In fact, LaVine replied with a laughing emoji at the suggestion that 4 years at $60 million was reasonable.

At this point, the Bulls have 48 hours to decide whether they are going to match the offer. Honestly, though, they shouldn’t need 48 minutes. The answer should be an emphatic “no” and we lay out three reasons why.