Bulls Injury Update: Zach LaVine's Ankle Injury Worse Than a Grade One

LaVine was already estimated to miss a week of action when his name initially showed up on the injury report, although Bulls head coach Billy Donovan was reluctant to put an official timeline on his recovery.

"I don't know what it's going to end up being," Donovan said. "It's going to be how he responds. He certainly has swelling in his ankle. That's pretty clear. Like I said, he's dealt with this before. I don't want to put a timeline on him."

Given this recent news that LaVine’s injury is worse than a grade one sprain, it seems likely he’ll miss more time than initially anticipated.

With the NBA trade deadline on the horizon, this could be a final nail in the coffin for the prospects of trading LaVine this season. Or, at the very least, it could even further drive down the cost to acquire him. 

Speaking of, Dan Woike of the LA Times, joined the “Ball Don't Lie” podcast on Monday and mentioned that LaVine's name isn't coming up in trade conversations.

Woike suggested that if LaVine were packaged with "someone like Alex Caruso, maybe that would change.” That’s not exactly the type of thing the Bulls want to hear if they’re looking to potentially offload LaVine at the deadline.