The Chicago Bulls managed to sign Zach LaVine to a big contract extension to build around him for the future. But as good as he and DeMar DeRozan have been, that hasn't translated into a lot of success on the court.
Arturas Karnisovas made some bold moves to try and turn the Bulls into a contender right away, yet that hasn't been the case thus far. If anything, it seems like they've peaked already and should rebuild again.
If that's the case, then there's no doubt that LaVine would be their most valuable trade asset. He's young, athletic, and a versatile scorer, and there will be no shortage of teams interested in his services.
NBA Rumors: Mulitple Teams Are Keeping Tabs On Zach LaVine
"If the Chicago Bulls make Zach LaVine available before the trade deadline, rival executives are keeping an eye on several teams who could have interest in trading for him, including the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, and Miami Heat," reported HoopsHype's Michael Scotto.
LaVine Wants To Play For The Lakers
Moreover, the word around the league is that LaVine — a UCLA product — is looking forward to going back to Southern California, and could even go as far as forcing his way out of the Windy City:
(Transcript via Heavy)
“LaVine wants to go to the Lakers, that has been pretty clear for a while now,” an Eastern Conference executive told Deveney. “The agents [from Klutch Sports] want him to be in Los Angeles, he is a UCLA guy and they did some rattling about his contract last offseason, to kind of lay the groundwork if things blew up. Which they seem to be doing.”
“The problem on LaVine is from the Lakers’ side, there is nothing they could trade to Chicago short of Anthony Davis,” the executive said. “Now, that is a possibility—Davis is a Chicago guy and if he were going to leave the Lakers, the Bulls would be one of the few places he’d be OK with. The Bulls and the Lakers would be swapping stars with injury problems, essentially. LaVine (who is 27) is younger than Davis, so that is an advantage but at full health, Davis (29) is a much, much better player.”
The Bulls need to replenish their draft capital after trading for Nikola Vucevic, and they're just not going to compete right now. So, they should most definitely consider parting ways with their young star.
