Chicago Bulls are foolish to want so much in trade for Zach LaVine

Just a couple of days ago, Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer wrote that the Chicago Bulls are gauging trade interest in two-time All Star guard Zach LaVine.

In another piece, Fischer also talked about the Washington Wizards possibly trading their own All Star guard, Bradley Beal, which is likely to happen this offseason.

In that second piece, Fischer wrote that the Bulls will likely end up wanting a bigger trade return for LaVine than the Wizards would get for Beal.

Fischer writes:

“…multiple teams have indicated the Bulls are holding a steep valuation for LaVine — one that’s likely to exceed what Washington can ultimately net for Beal.”

The Chicago Bulls would be foolish to want a larger return for Zach LaVine than the Wizards would get for Bradley Beal

Looking at Beal and LaVine, there isn’t a huge age gap between the two of them. LaVine just turned 28 and Beal will turn 30 later this month. Each of them have four years remaining on their contracts, with Beal’s fourth year being a player option.

The difference between both players, though, comes in overall consistency, especially offensively speaking. Beal has posted two career seasons averaging over 30 points per game, while LaVine has zero such years.

Beal is also a better facilitator than LaVine is, posting four seasons with more than 5.0 assists per game and two seasons with over 6.0.

Meanwhile, LaVine has yet to finish a season averaging over 5.0 assists per contest.

Beal is more experienced, playing 11 seasons versus LaVine’s nine, and Beal has also earned one more All Star nod than LaVine.

If you were to ask 100 die-hard NBA fans which of the two players are better, overall, and more of a winning type of player, more likely than not you would see over 51 of them choose Beal.

Beal’s reputation has been higher than LaVine’s over the course of their careers, and it also took Beal less time to establish himself as a star. LaVine took until about Year 5 to get to the point of breaking out, while it was Year 4 that saw Beal take the leap.

In the end, the Bulls shouldn’t get stingy when holding LaVine during trade talks. The contract, in and of itself, is a big enough reason to want to move on from the guard.