Over the course of human history, we’ve seen great inventions that have dramatically accelerated civilization. The wheel, to use one example, certainly ranks in the top five. And whoever came up with the insane notion of mashing together two cookies, with vanilla ice cream as the filling center … we all commend you.
As it stands, we might be on the threshold of a similar evolutionary leap as the ice cream sandwich, and it comes to us via the Denver Nuggets, who are reportedly interested in acquiring Bulls guard Zach LaVine.
The high-scoring shooting guard has, for a variety of reasons, grown underrated to an extent that borders on ridiculous.
Yes, his contract is indeed huge. LaVine earns $43 million this year and has another two years left at roughly $46 million and $48.9 million, although that last year is a player option.
The financial component of LaVine is a major hurdle, and for the past few years, the league reportedly deemed the contract untradable due to its scale.
That always seemed like a bridge too far, and it reeked of teams or individuals putting Chicago’s lack of results solely on LaVine, instead of looking at management and ownership, who have never seemed to understand what to actually do with a player like him.
LaVine is not a first option. He’s been pushed into that role before, and he’s had decent individual results, but he was never supposed to be the primary guy. There was a pretty significant reason for that.
Over the course of his career, and especially since he entered his prime during his Chicago years, LaVine became an outright wicked off-ball scorer.
In 2020-21, LaVine ranked seventh in catch-and-shoot 3-point percentage (48.9%) of players with over 50 games played, while being Chicago’s primary offensive weapon (by far).
That same season, he ranked in the 97th percentile in cutting efficiency, again as the primary offensive player on the Bulls, with defenses gearing up to stop him.
Since then, LaVine has remained a high-efficiency player on actions not on the ball, only falling below 40% on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers during his injury-riddled season last year, when he was limited to 25 games.
What’s intriguing about that level of efficiency is LaVine has never played with a player who is an elite playmaker and also operates as the first option.
In short, he’s never had his Batman.
In Denver, he’d finally have his … well, Joker. But Nikola Jokić is also Batman in this scenario.
All right, forget the superhero analogy. LaVine has never played next to a superstar, and he’s certainly never played alongside a superstar of Jokić’s caliber as someone who might go down as one of the 10 best players of all time.
In Denver, LaVine would essentially walk into the most effortless 20-25 points per game he could ever imagine due to his aforementioned skills playing off the ball.
The 29-year-old would also bend defenses to a degree that would open up the floor more for both Jokić and Jamal Murray, which should inject new life into Denver’s offense.
With Jokić drawing frequent double-teams, LaVine would stand to immediately benefit due to the ball moving and popping like he’s never seen in Chicago, with all due respect to DeMar DeRozan.
LaVine would also inject some much-needed 3-point creation into Denver’s offense. While Michael Porter Jr. would likely head to Chicago in such a deal, the forward isn’t able to create 3-point shots off the dribble to the extent of LaVine, as he simply lacks the ball-handling, speed and touch to hit off-angle shots as he contorts his body in the air.
This isn’t to say some challenges wouldn’t develop in Denver, as LaVine isn’t a noteworthy defender. Offensively speaking, however, the fit just makes sense.
Oftentimes in the NBA, obvious trades don’t get made. Teams will pivot into a direction that catches most observers off-guard, and we’re left imagining what a certain player on a certain team could look like.
Here, the possibility makes an otherworldly level of sense.
It’s obvious. It’s fresh. It’s the right thing to try. So, based on past experiences … don’t get your hopes up.
