NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz on Zach LaVine’s Bulls Future, Miles Bridges

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Even when an NBA team becomes a championship contender, it can’t stop thinking about the long-term future. Otherwise, it may not be long before the franchise ends up falling off and is no longer competing in the playoffs on an annual basis.

So while the 2021-22 season is only a little less than two weeks old, the league’s 30 teams also still have to be planning for the future. And that can mean having extension talks with some of the players on their rosters.

Throughout the season, there’s sure to be plenty of contract buzz as players and teams have negotiations. Here’s some of the latest from around the NBA.

LaVine Likely to Remain With Bulls Long Term?

The Chicago Bulls spent the past offseason building a strong core around shooting guard Zach LaVine. They brought in DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, and so far, those moves have worked out great for the team.

Chicago is off to a 4-1 start, and it opened the season by winning four consecutive games. Now, it will look to stay in playoff contention throughout the rest of the 2021-22 campaign. The Bulls haven’t reached the postseason since 2017, which was the season before they acquired LaVine in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Now that he has a better supporting cast around him, LaVine may lead Chicago to success moving forward. And although he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2021-22 season, KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago has heard LaVine’s future with the team is likely to extend beyond next summer.

“I’d say every indication I’ve been given both internally from his side and the organization is this is a match made to move forward together,” Johnson recently told Michael Scotto on the HoopsHype Podcast.

And there are a number of reasons why Johnson believes LaVine isn’t going anywhere.

“He has really embraced being the face of the franchise ever since the Jimmy Butler trade, even when they were bad,” Johnson said. “He’s always been front and center as the star of the team, always available media-wise, he’s a good representative of the franchise, he loves living in Chicago, he loves the history and legacy of the franchise. I personally have always felt this was headed for a long-term extension.”

LaVine, who is averaging 25.4 points through five games, has continued to improve throughout his time with the Bulls. If the 26-year-old ends up with the team for the long haul, he should continue to be one of the centerpieces of their lineup for a long time.

Hornets Gave Bridges a ‘Baseline Offer’ in Extension Talks

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It’s only been six games, but Miles Bridges has taken his game to another level early in the 2021-22 season. The Charlotte Hornets forward is averaging 25.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest, while shooting 50.9 percent from the field.

Bridges likely isn’t leaving Charlotte anytime soon, considering he’ll be a restricted free agent next summer. That means the Hornets will be able to match any other potential offers that Bridges receives.

However, Charlotte may want to try to get Bridges signed to a long-term deal before then. But if early extension rumors are any indication, the two sides may not be getting close to an agreement.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst shared on his Hoop Collective podcast (h/t RealGM) that the Hornets recently gave Bridges a “baseline offer” of four years and $60 million. So it isn’t a huge surprise that Bridges didn’t agree to those terms.

Even if Bridges doesn’t maintain his current level of play, there’s a good chance he’s going to put up career-best numbers this season. He averaged 13.0 points in 65 games in 2019-20, then averaged 12.7 points in 66 games in 2020-21.

So Charlotte is likely going to end up paying Bridges much more than its initial offer. And if it doesn’t, it could end up losing him to another team. But the team will be in position to decide how much it’s willing to spend on him.