Zach LaVine teaming up with Nikola Jokić in Denver? Some trade rumors just make sense

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You’d smile too if there was a possibility to play alongside Nikola Jokić. (Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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 5. 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-the-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.

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Since then, LaVine…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/zach-lavine-teaming-up-with-nikola-jokic-in-denver-some-trade-rumors-just-make-sense-160450364.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-12-18 16:04:00

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