Teams looking into trade availability of this Bulls All-Star guard
The Chicago Bulls and guard Zach LaVine are both open to the idea of a trade and given the team's start to the season, this is a deal that needs to happen sooner rather than later.
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, several NBA front office officials are in Chicago on Tuesday for the 2023 Champions Classic for college basketball, which is where discussions regarding LaVine’s availability started.
Through 11 games, LaVine is averaging 21.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and three assists, down from last season’s points (24.8) and assists (4.2). The Bulls are currently 4-7 following Monday’s 118-109 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and questions are arising about the team’s ceiling.
A players-only meeting was already called after only one game into the regular season, and tensions will continue to rise as the losses pile up.
The 2021-22 season was the only year the Bulls made the playoffs during LaVine’s tenure and the result was a first-round exit in five games against the Milwaukee Bucks. Last season, the Bulls posted a 40-42 record and were eliminated from the play-in tournament by the Miami Heat.
This year, the team as currently constructed is nowhere close to a playoff contender, ranking 21st in offense and 22nd in defense per Cleaning the Glass. With aging veterans in DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vučević and a lack of young players with star potential, the Bulls front office needs to consider a rebuild.
The biggest obstacle in a LaVine trade is his contract, as he is currently in Year 2 of a five-year, $215M max contract with an AAV of $44M. Teams might be hesitant to give up real assets and cap space for a ball-dominant scorer who is a below-average defender.
The time is coming for this franchise to make a dramatic change and The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry reported that one league source anticipates that the Bulls' roster will look very different as early as a month from now.
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