Bulls’ Zach LaVine to Have Season-Ending Surgery on Foot Injury amid NBA Trade Rumors

The Chicago Bulls will be without Zach LaVine for the remainder of the season.

The team announced that LaVine is set to undergo surgery on his right foot and that he will be out four-to-six months. He is set to have the surgery next week.

LaVine last played January 18 and has played in just 25 games in 2023-24. He averaged 19.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists in those games.

LaVine has been the subject of trade talks throughout the season, but the surgery likely derails any possibility of him being moved before the offseason.

He is under contract through 2025-26 with a player option for 2026-27 and has an average salary of $43 million. He is a productive player, as he averaged more than 20 points in the five preceding seasons to 2023-34, but adding a contract of that size was seemingly a hangup for prospective buyers in trade talks.

That contract also doesn’t fit well with this iteration of the Bulls, as the franchise is hovering in the middle of the Eastern Conference and is struggling to jump into serious contention. The Bulls are currently 23-26 and in ninth place in the conference.

LaVine may have played his final game in a Bulls uniform, if he were to be traded in the offseason, and his pending surgery could hurt his potential trade value.

However, delaying the move until the offseason will allow teams to prepare to potentially take on his contract, which could increase the number of teams willing to make a push for LaVine.