The LaVine trade rumors have included some pushback from Bulls-favored reporting saying they can just hold on to him.

Beyond the grossness of keeping this season stuck in place, I do think there is a significant contractual difference between offseason and now. (haven’t seen it elsewhere so maybe not correct?)

Zach’s contract has 15% trade kicker. But since he’s signed to his max, 30% of cap, (you may have seen Zach-leaning fans say “normal max, find a new slant!”) he would not get much of it at all

In the offseason, however, Zach has reached 10 seasons of service time, and his eligible maximum earnings jumps to 35% of the cap. So he would get that bonus up to that max, a little over $49M

This is bad for both the trader and the receiver. The higher cap calculation is applied to the receiving team. It’s actually paid cash money by the Bulls.