The Chicago Bulls are reportedly open to the idea of trading All-Star guard Zach LaVine, per The Athletic's Shams Charania. This comes a day after the Bulls dropped to 4-7 on the season following a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in which LaVine put up an inefficient 20 points on 5-of-19 shooting from the field and a 2-of-10 effort from deep. It's the latest in what's been a down year from the typically efficient scorer, as he's shooting a near career low 40.9% from the field and 30.9% from 3-point territory.
Charania reports that teams across the league have contacted the Bulls about LaVine's availability, and the two-time All-Star is open to playing elsewhere. It's unclear which teams could be in on LaVine, but the Lakers have been mentioned in the past as a possible trade destination for him. The Warriors could also be a viable option, as Golden State is once again too reliant on Stephen Curry to do everything on offense. Curry is having another MVP-caliber year, but as the Warriors sit 6-5 on the season there hasn't been a single other Warriors player to eclipse the 20-point mark this season.
LaVine has reached or surpassed that point total in seven of Chicago's 11 games, including a 51-point barn burner in a loss to the Pistons. Adding him would certainly give the Warriors the offensive boost they need.
But whether it's the Warriors or another team that trades for LaVine, it's going to require a lot of matching salary, as the Bulls guard makes north of $40 million this season. Whichever team trades for him also means committing to the remaining $137.9 million left on his contract, which includes a player option in the last year.
In addition to LaVine being available, Charania also reports that DeMar DeRozan's future in Chicago is unknown. The Bulls want to bring DeRozan back, but the two sides haven't come to an agreement on contract details. DeRozan also wants to see where Chicago is headed as a team before making a commitment.
Despite making the playoffs during the 2021-22 season, the Bulls haven't seen much success with a core of LaVine, DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic. Some of that is due to injuries, most notably to starting point guard Lonzo Ball who has been sidelined since that 2021-22 season. While outside opinion on the Bulls has been that the team needs to go into a rebuild mode, the front office has primarily ran with the same nucleus of guys for the last three seasons. This is the first time that there's been serious rumblings about the franchise going in a different direction, so we'll have to wait and see if it actually happens.
