Bulls reportedly aren’t done making moves: Zach LaVine finally gaining traction on the trade market
The Chicago Bulls made the first big trade of the NBA offseason, shipping Alex Caruso off to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Josh Giddey. While the Thunder benefit greatly by adding a player like Caruso to the mix, the Bulls got a 21-year-old in Giddey with a ton of potential.
The Bulls are a team in no-man's land. They've missed the postseason two seasons in a row, and had a roster that was only getting older. Now, with the Giddey trade, they showed a sign of potentially entering a rebuild. This new rumor would only add to that.
Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Zach LaVine's trade market is growing. That's good news for the Bulls if true.
According to a source, Bulls also feel there is a growing trade market for Zach LaVine with a handful of teams feeling like they have no shot at the several coveted free agents that will be out there. Let the game of chicken begin ...
— Joe Cowley (@JCowleyHoops) June 20, 2024
Zach LaVine could be the next Bulls player traded
LaVine is a player who has seemingly been on the trade block for a while now without much reported interest. This is one of the few tweets suggesting a deal could actually get done.
LaVine is a fantastic scorer, averaging at least 23 points per game efficiently in each of the last five years before struggling in this past season's injury-riddled campaign. Those injuries combined with his inability to defend at a high or even average level, and his ridiculous contract have made him virtually untradable in the eyes of many. Perhaps with some teams feeling like they have no shot at landing high-end free agents, LaVine will become a more intriguing trade candidate as Cowley pointed out.
The 29-year-old has three more years on his deal at roughly $45 million annually. That'd be a tough contract for any contending team out there to take on, but perhaps there's one with cap space and/or matching salaries willing to offer Chicago something to pry LaVine away.
With Caruso gone, LaVine potentially next, and DeMar DeRozan set to hit free agency as well, the 2024-25 Bulls might have a roster that's completely unrecognizable.
Since their first-round pick is top-10 protected thanks to the initial trade that brought DeRozan to Chicago, they have all of the incentive in the world to lose as many games as possible in the upcoming year. Losing three of their best players would go a long way.
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