Do you feel that a max guy will sign with Chicago during their rebuilding phase with youth? I don't, which is why I feel there was little opportunity cost to the LaVine signing with a ton of upside.
Chicago isn't signing any big-name free agents in the next few years. The opportunity cost comes in three primary forms:
1. Taking flyers on young players (we have an example of this in the past 24 hours with Jabari)
2. Re-signing core talent that develops. If Jabari plays lights out next year, or Kris Dunn develops, or Markannen is a max player, the LaVine contract will make paying them painful, and foreclose the ability to add talent around them. Denver just had to give away a fairly decent first round pick because of the Faried and Plumlee contracts, combined with the unexpected speed that its core of Murray, Jokic, and Harris came together, and the Millsap signing.
3. Taking draft picks to help teams clear contracts. I'd probably rather have the Denver top-12 protected pick that Brooklyn got than have LaVine.
Painting it as "oh, they're not signing a big free agent, so 4/80 is fine" isn't very creative, and a big reason that young teams that suddenly develop often find themselves in trouble when the rebuilding plan actually works.