Stay with Bulls or move on? Zach LaVine says he will explore free agency

In what is considered a down free agent class, Zach LaVine is the big prize.

(Unless Bradley Beal decides to bolt Washington D.C., which remains unlikely. Kyrie Irving and James Harden will opt out of their current contracts and be free agents, but both of them are staying put at numbers their current teams will not be comfortable with but have to pay anyway).

What does LaVine want? A return to Chicago after a promising season and returning to relevance? Or does he see a better fit somewhere else?

LaVine left the door wide open speaking with the media Friday. Every option was on the table.

“I have to do this as a business decision, as a man, to not just be viewed one way and be like I’m automatically coming back or I’m automatically leaving,” LaVine said, via the Associated Press.

LaVine emphasized he loved Chicago and his time with the Bulls, but said he wanted to take advantage of being a free agent and being recruited. Here are a couple more quotes from LaVine’s media availability, via NBC Sports Chicago.

“I plan to enjoy free agency with what it is as a whole. I think you’re going to have to experience A-Z without making any fast decisions. I think that’s something that me and (agent) Rich (Paul) get to go through and experience.”

“You should view it as I’ve been here [in Chicago] for the last five years. Obviously you guys have been a really, really soft spot in my heart and I have to do this as a business decision as a man. Not to just be viewed one way, and be like: ‘I’m automatically coming back,’ or ‘I’m automatically leaving,’ things like that. It’s unrestricted free agency, for my family and me I have to go into this like it’s a decision where I have to be open-eyed.”

LaVine was an All-Star this season,