Watch a moving video from Chicago in honor of Zach Lavin

for years, Zach LaVine he struggled on a Chicago Bulls a team that wasn’t quite sure where it was going. The Bulls then made the playoffs during the 2021-22 season, which was an encouraging sign, but continued to miss the playoffs for the next several years, necessitating some major roster changes. Last season, The bulls decided to take another step towards a full commitment to the youth movement when they traded Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings.

On Wednesday night, LaVine returned to the United Center for the first time since being traded to the Bulls in February. He spent seven and a half seasons in Chicago, and while the team wasn’t very successful during that time, he was still their best player during that stretch and gave the Bulls at least a semblance of respectability.

In return, the Bulls paid tribute to LaVine in the form of a video package that highlighted some of them his greatest moments with the crew during their extended stay in the Windy City.

Bulls video tribute to Zach LaVine 🙌

(via @chicagobulls)pic.twitter.com/p62SKKShkAd

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 30, 2025

This isn’t LaVine’s first time facing the Bulls as a member of the Kings. He faced them back on March 20, in a game that the Kings lost quite convincingly, 128-116. LaVine struggled mightily during that contest, scoring just eight points on 2-9 shooting while taking a backseat to Malik Monk and another former Bull in DeMar DeRozan that night.

LaVine played in 416 games for the Bulls, starting 413 of them. He averaged 24.2 points per game during his seven and a half years with the team, doing so on 47/39/83 shooting. With Chicago, he was on the All-Star team twice.

The Bulls acquired Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins and their 2025 first-round pick (which was primarily protected in the top 10) in the Avalanche trade. All three players are still on the roster.

The Bulls are better than the Kings after the Zach LaVine trade away

LaVine’s productivity as a scorer should not be doubted. Through the first four games of the season, he averaged 29 points for the Kings. But the Bulls got three solid players in exchange for LaVine and his oversized contract, and handed the reins to Kobe White and Josh Giddy. There’s a reason Chicago finished the 2025-26 campaign on such a high note.

Meanwhile, the The Kings have a roster that makes no sense whatsoever. It’s a shame LaVine couldn’t get into a situation with stability, because he would be such a dangerous weapon on the right team.