Despite playing a different position, Aaron Gordon is probably the best free agent comparison to Zach LaVine in this year’s class.
He turns 23 in September, he jumps off the page athletically but isn’t necessarily a skilled player, he averaged 17.6 points a game last season while shooting just 43.4% from the field and playing little defense.
Orlando RFA Aaron Gordon has agreed to a four-year, $84 million deal to re-sign with the Magic, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2018
Aaron Gordon sets the market for the big restricted free agents. Clint Capela and Zach LaVine will probably be looking for similar money now.
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) July 2, 2018
That does not bode well for the Bulls if the reports that they value LaVine at only $60M are true.
$21M a year is a lot of money. If that’s what the Bulls end up paying LaVine, he better make a big leap as a player because otherwise, their cap situation looks a whole lot less appealing.
If the Bulls pump $21M a year into LaVine, give Bobby Portis a $12M a year extension, kick $50M a year into Markkanen and Dunn combined, there won’t be any money left to add from the outside. This core can’t contend on their own, they’ll need help eventually.
There’s no guarantee that LaVine will find an offer sheet that matches Gordon’s, but the market has now been set and it’s uncomfortably high.
