If Zach LaVine ends up in Miami, the Celtics could be looking at a real problem.
Boston already watched the Giannis Antetokounmpo chase slip away to the Heat, and at the time that felt frustrating more than terrifying. The Celtics’ roster picture was murky enough that Miami still didn’t look like a clean threat. LaVine changes that equation.
LaVine picked up his option with the Sacramento Kings for this season, but the situation around him has started to look shaky fast. Sacramento appears headed for another rebuild, and while there have been no reports of a buyout, that possibility is clearly being discussed.
“They've been honest with [Zach LaVine] & said; Look, all bets are off if you opt in... We as a franchise have to make a business decision w/ regards to you-& if he's going to get bought out it should happen now.
Because after this it's not advantageous to anybody.” @James_HamNBA https://t.co/iZgEHeYvwq pic.twitter.com/7DSZ1Tykt4
- Dru (@dru_star) July 30, 2026
If LaVine becomes available, Miami makes immediate sense. The Heat lost Tyler Herro to Milwaukee and Norman Powell to Chicago, which stripped away their two best halfcourt creators. LaVine is coming off an injury-hit season, but his game fits the same lane as the players Miami just lost.
He has never been the kind of player who has consistently terrorized Boston on his own, but that’s only part of the story. A Heat team under Erik Spoelstra has a way of squeezing the most out of talent, and that’s exactly why this idea is so uncomfortable for the Celtics. Jimmy Butler arrived in Miami with a strong reputation and left with his legacy boosted; LaVine would not follow the same path, but he could still become the most dangerous version of himself there.
That’s the part Boston would have to watch. The Heat have been the Celtics’ most aggravating opponent in this decade, and even after the Butler era ended, there was a sense of relief.
Miami then added Giannis, and it still felt like something was missing. LaVine could be that missing piece.
None of it matters unless a buyout actually happens, of course. Most buyout additions don’t move the needle much, but the market has shifted some, with Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal both waived-and-stretched last year because their teams were working around the CBA.
LaVine, though, is different in one simple way: he’s a good player stuck on the wrong team. Sacramento’s direction is unclear, and that’s putting it mildly. Whatever the Kings’ plan is, it hasn’t made much sense with LaVine in the middle of it.
So yes, everything here is still hypothetical. On paper, though, the fit is obvious. Miami needs what LaVine can provide, and Spoelstra has a track record of turning those kinds of pieces into something more dangerous.
Boston would rather not see that happen. But even if it does, the Celtics have shown they can take a punch and keep moving, even after Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles.
LaVine would make the road tougher. He wouldn’t make it impossible.
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Shulga then kept moving, briefly landing a Summer League deal with the Golden State Warriors before taking the next step overseas. For the Celtics, it is another reminder that second-round picks can take a winding route, and not every prospect stays in the same development lane for long. What had looked like a patient, two-way progression through Bostons system is now turning into something very different, with his next chapter set away from the NBA path the Celtics had been building around. [Read more 🡒]