The Lakers want Zach LaVine, but they can't trade for him now

The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled to beat winning teams this season. And just like it happens with every LeBron James-led team, that means at least half of the roster will be subject to trade rumors for the next couple of months.

Whether Rob Pelinka goes through another roster overhaul or not remains to be seen, and it’s still way too early in the season. However, we’ve heard and seen this story way too many times in the past not to at least keep an eye on what’s going on in Southern California.

Conversely, the Chicago Bulls have some major struggles of their own, and with Zach LaVine’s latest incident with a Bulls’ PR representative and all the trade rumors around him, a move somewhere else seems imminent.

LaVine took just nine shots in the Bulls’ latest loss and looked like someone who had given up on his team, and it’s not the first time he’s had some issues with Billy Donovan’s coaching. With that in mind, the Lakers represent a logical potential destination.

Zach LaVine

Lakers Are Keeping An Eye On Chicago

According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Lakers do have a real interest in trading for LaVine, who’s a UCLA product and also represented by Rich Paul and Klutch Sports, just like LeBron and Anthony Davis:

“The Lakers’ interest in LaVine is real — at the right price,” wrote Buha. “However, LaVine’s potential availability also hints at the possibility of a fire sale in Chicago, with the organization seemingly looking to finally pivot away from its longstanding mediocrity. If additional Bulls players become available, the Lakers would also have interest in DeMar DeRozan and/or former Laker Alex Caruso, according to multiple team sources.”

Of course, they would have to wait until the Bulls bottom out and make their players available first, which could happen at any point between now and the trade deadline.

It Won’t Be Easy

The Lakers need to make sure to accommodate LaVine’s contract on their books. He’s slightly overpaid, and the new CBA makes it difficult to have three players making big bucks at the same time:

Zach LaVine — Getty Images

“The Lakers’ biggest concern in a potential LaVine trade is his gigantic contract: In addition to his $40.1 million salary for 2023-24, he’s owed $138 million over the next three years (which includes a $49 million player option in 2026-27 he seems likely to exercise),” Buha reported. “Moreover, LaVine has a 15 percent trade kicker that he’d almost certainly have to waive to make a trade to the Lakers feasible financially.”

On top of that, most of the Lakers’ potential trade chips won’t be eligible for a trade until Dec. 15, and it’s not like they could make up for an appealing trade package anyway:

“The Lakers would realistically have to wait until at least until Dec. 15, when most of their roster becomes trade-eligible (Russell, Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Reddish, Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes),” Buha continued. “Beyond that, Reaves and Rui Hachimura become trade eligible on Jan. 15. (Davis becomes trade eligible on Feb. 6, but don’t expect them to move him or James. Jarred Vanderbilt cannot be traded due to his multi-year contract extension.) The Lakers aren’t interested in including Reaves in a potential LaVine deal despite his recent move to the bench, according to multiple team sources.”

see also

NBA Rumors: Potential destinations for Zach LaVine

Whether the Bulls will be willing to wait for that long or even be slightly interested in whatever the Lakers have to offer remains to be seen. For now, it seems like multiple teams would be in a better position to land the two-time All-Star at this point.