{"id":50845,"date":"2023-06-17T07:30:46","date_gmt":"2023-06-17T11:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=50845"},"modified":"2023-06-16T17:55:24","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T21:55:24","slug":"nba-rumors-three-potential-destinations-if-bulls-trade-zach-lavine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/06\/17\/nba-rumors-three-potential-destinations-if-bulls-trade-zach-lavine\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Rumors: Three Potential Destinations if Bulls Trade Zach LaVine"},"content":{"rendered":"

The <\/span>Chicago Bulls<\/b><\/a> wrapped up the 2022-23 season with a 40-42 record and an eventual loss in the Play-in Tournament to the Miami Heat. After yet another year in purgatory, Chicago is looking increasingly ready for a rebuild, with <\/span>DeMar DeRozan<\/b><\/a> approaching 34 years old,\u00a0<\/span>Nikola Vucevic<\/b><\/a> becoming a free agent, and doubts regarding Lonzo Ball<\/strong><\/a>‘s future.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a time when the Bulls could greatly use a shake-up this summer, another rumor has slipped from the cracks of the front office: <\/span>Chicago is \u201cquietly\u201d shopping All-Star guard<\/span><\/a> Zach LaVine<\/b><\/a> in hopes of getting a return that could exceed that of Bradley Beal<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s if Washington moves on from him<\/a> in an eerily similar situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

With another star shooting guard on the market, it\u2019s shaping up to be one wild offseason in the NBA. Here are three potential LaVine suitors that could make sense if the Bulls blow it up.<\/span><\/p>\n

NBA Rumors: Three Potential Destinations if Bulls Trade Zach LaVine<\/h2>\n

Background on LaVine<\/h3>\n

An electric three-level scorer, LaVine averaged nearly 25 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game this season while shooting 48% from the field, 37% from deep, and nearly 85% from the free-throw line. He\u2019s in the second year of a five-year, $215 million max contract that he inked with Chicago last season\u2014making $40 million next year. However, given all of the issues with the Bulls so far, it makes sense why GM Mark Eversley is open to taking calls on their franchise player.<\/span><\/p>\n

New York Knicks<\/h3>\n

The <\/span>New York Knicks<\/b><\/a> have been linked to both LaVine and Beal in recent days, but by the looks of it, the former could be more appealing as a younger and cheaper option. New York\u2019s 47-35 season culminated in a second-round loss to the Heat, but there is optimism that they could go for a deeper run if the right moves are made. One of those may very well be adding LaVine while giving up <\/span>RJ Barrett<\/b><\/a> or <\/span>Julius Randle<\/b><\/a> in the process. Knicks reporter Ian Begley outlined this possibility in <\/span>his mailbag article last month<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I don\u2019t think the Knicks can acquire LaVine without giving up <\/span>RJ Barrett<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>Julius Randle<\/span><\/a>. I would assume that one of those two players would have to be in any deal. When the Knicks and Bulls talked casually about a potential deal during the season, (several weeks before the trade deadline), I was told that some with Chicago had interest in <\/span>Immanuel Quickley<\/span><\/a>. That was months ago. Both teams may have changed their thinking at this point.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Knicks have the money to kick the tires on a potential deal, including the salaries of Evan Fournier<\/strong><\/a> and Derrick Rose<\/strong><\/a> at $18.8 million and a $15.5 million Team Option, respectively. Other rumored trades have New York <\/span>parting ways with<\/span><\/a> Obi Toppin<\/b><\/a> and two future first-round picks (in addition to either Randle or Barrett)<\/span>.<\/b><\/p>\n

LaVine would serve as an ideal complement to <\/span>Jalen Brunson<\/b><\/a> in the backcourt, two guards who can both score and facilitate at a high level. Assuming Barrett is the one to go in this scenario, the Knicks have an opportunity to form a solid Brunson-LaVine-Randle trio while continuing to nurture some of their young players<\/span>. New York needs another scoring threat to truly capitalize on their current potential, and LaVine just might be the solution for that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Miami Heat<\/h3>\n

Fresh off of their impressive run to the Finals, the <\/span>Miami Heat<\/b><\/a> are searching for a third star to pair with<\/span><\/a> Jimmy Butler<\/b><\/a> and <\/span>Bam Adebayo<\/b><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Miami were to strike out on their own pursuit of Beal\u2014currently unlikely given their frontrunner status\u2014LaVine could be a reasonable pivot. Similar to the Knicks scenario, he would take the load off of Butler while giving Miami another three-level threat on offense. It would help the Heat tremendously, considering Adebayo\u2019s foul trouble noted throughout the postseason and how Miami began to struggle if the supporting cast was unproductive. Sending LaVine to South Beach\u2014presumably for a package around <\/span>Tyler Herro<\/b><\/a>\u2014would give the Heat the consistency it has needed without Butler on the floor, and it would fortify Miami\u2019s offense with Butler, LaVine, and Adebayo at the helm.<\/span><\/p>\n

Orlando Magic<\/h3>\n

The last possible target in the LaVine sweepstakes is arguably the least expected: the <\/span>Orlando Magic<\/b><\/a>. Bleacher Report\u2019s Zach Buckley posited <\/span>a potential deal between Chicago and Orlando<\/span><\/a> last month; it would send <\/span>Gary Harris<\/b><\/a>, <\/span>Jalen Suggs<\/b><\/a>, <\/span>Jonathan Isaac<\/b><\/a>, and the 11th pick to the Bulls for LaVine.<\/span><\/p>\n

Buckley\u2019s reasoning for the move is that LaVine would \u201c<\/span>take control of this offense while simultaneously scratching itches for shooting, volume scoring, and off-the-dribble creativity. He’d handle the bulk of opposing defenses’ attention, which would lighten [<\/span>Paolo Banchero<\/b><\/a>]’s load and perhaps be a big boost to his shooting rates (42.7\/29.8\/73.8).<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Though this idea came out of the blue, it\u2019s worth revisiting despite the fact that <\/span>Orlando is now trying to trade into the top five<\/span><\/a>. The Magic making a move for LaVine would greatly accelerate their timeline for potential playoff contention. Instead of banking on a top-five pick to be the missing piece to the puzzle, LaVine would provide that and more, solving the Magic\u2019s current conundrum at shooting guard while being a veteran star next to the up-and-coming Banchero.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Last Word on Zach LaVine<\/h3>\n

The Bulls are leaning towards a direction they should have gone a while ago, being open to granting LaVine a better situation while he\u2019s still in his prime at 28. Though he has struggled with injuries and is a liability on defense, there\u2019s no doubt that any team that acquires LaVine will get a walking highlight reel and offensive force that can slide into any system and role he\u2019s placed in. Whether the Bulls\u2019 return for him can exceed that of Bradley Beal\u2019s is a whole other story.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bulls wrapped up the 2022-23 season with a 40-42 record and an eventual loss in the Play-in Tournament to the Miami Heat. After yet another year in purgatory, Chicago is looking increasingly ready for a rebuild, with DeMar DeRozan approaching 34 years old,\u00a0Nikola Vucevic becoming a free agent, and doubts regarding Lonzo Ball‘s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":50852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4721,1608,8,62],"tags":[3259,142,510,3823,1964,457],"class_list":["post-50845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trade-rumors","category-basketball","category-bulls","category-nba","tag-jalen-suggs","tag-jimmy-butler","tag-julius-randle","tag-paolo-banchero","tag-rj-barrett","tag-zach-lavine"],"modified_by":"Zach Kircher","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}