The Chicago Bulls remain a popular team in trade rumors. Most notably, Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, and Lonzo Ball are all top trade candidates for the Bulls this season. Nothing is imminent yet, especially given that the trade deadline is still two months away. Still, the Bulls will continue to be in the rumor mill until something happens. Of their “Big Three” of trade candidates, LaVine is the most interesting one. Since getting traded to Chicago back in 2017, the UCLA alum has been the subject of trade rumors just about every season. So far, nothing has come to fruition. Now in his eighth season with the Bulls, many wonder if this is the year the team finally trades LaVine. However, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, there is no reason to believe a LaVine trade is on the horizon.
Zach LaVine is having the best shooting season of his career, hitting 51% of his shots overall and 43% of his 3s. But despite this and even with more than a year on the trade block, there still hasn’t been any movement on a deal or any change of heart from LaVine and his desire to be moved from Chicago.
“Nothing has changed,” one source close to the situation deadpanned.
LaVine has $89 million on his contract for this season and next and then has a $49 million player option for 2026-27 — plus a history of knee injuries. The Bulls have found those factors have largely frozen the market on him. With all of the new layers of restrictions affecting team building, trading for a player with a $40-plus million annual salary is complicated at best for most teams. LaVine, regardless of his fine play and 22 points-per-game scoring average, is stuck in a holding pattern.
Brian Windhorst Reveals Uninspiring Zach LaVine Trade Update
The 3 Teams Unlikely to Trade for Zach LaVine
A couple of weeks ago, NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer (subscription required), named the three teams who are unlikely to trade for LaVine. These teams are the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, and Detroit Pistons.
While Sacramento harbored interest for Zach LaVine this past summer, sources say that the Kings are no longer an option after they landed DeMar DeRozan. Golden State also weighed a LaVine pursuit internally, sources said, but the Warriors do not presently have much interest. I’ve been advised that Detroit is not a likely destination for Zach LaVine, either.
It is unknown if Sacramento’s interest in LaVine was before or after they acquired his former Bulls teammate DeMar DeRozan. Regardless, at this time, a trade for LaVine makes little sense for the Kings. Additionally, the Warriors have since acquired Dennis Schroder from the Brooklyn Nets. Furthermore, they reportedly have interest in Jimmy Butler.
The most interesting team here is the Pistons. Last season, there were rumors that the Pistons were close to landing LaVine before his season-ending foot injury in February. The Pistons seemingly have no interest in him anymore, though.
The Last Word On the Chicago Bulls
The Bulls trading LaVine has seemed inevitable for many seasons. Whether it finally happens this year or not remains to be seen.
