{"id":84450,"date":"2024-07-03T15:57:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T19:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=84450"},"modified":"2024-07-03T15:57:55","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T19:57:55","slug":"western-conference-playoff-hopefuls-still-in-on-zach-lavine-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/03\/western-conference-playoff-hopefuls-still-in-on-zach-lavine-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Conference Playoff Hopefuls Still in on Zach LaVine Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While the Chicago Bulls scour the league in their efforts to send <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lavinza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach LaVine<\/a> to a new home, NBC Sports Chicago\u2019s K.C. Johnson reports that he\u2019s \u201cled to believe that there are still two teams\u201d interested in trading for the two-time All-Star.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cAgain, everything\u2019s fluid&#8230;\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_u5QY1lBHtg?si=CkXhblfkf2Un5vbB\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been led to believe that there are two teams that are still at least having conversations with a glimmer of hope, however you want to phrase it\u2026,\u201d Johnson continues. \u201cWhat I will say is I\u2019ve written the (Sacramento) Kings and (Golden State) Warriors are the two teams I\u2019m still monitoring.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cBut we said all along, it may not happen and I gained some traction on this podcast by saying there is a scenario in which (he) returns, and that scenario is the Bulls can\u2019t find a trade for him. So we\u2019ll see how it plays out\u2026 it is still an organization priority to try to trade Zach.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Johnson cautions against assuming that the Bulls will be able to move LaVine. Nonetheless, the Bulls front office still considers trading him to be \u201can organization priority.\u201d The 29-year-old has three years and $138 million remaining on his contract, with an average annual salary of $46 million.<\/p>\n<h2>Western Conference Playoff Hopefuls Still in on Zach LaVine Trade<\/h2>\n<h3>Is The Contract Criticism Fair?<\/h3>\n<p>When considering that he\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/hoopshype.com\/salaries\/players\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">being paid similarly to<\/a> Houston Rockets guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vanvlfr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fred VanVleet<\/a>, LaVine\u2019s deal <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/03\/rockets-lack-commitment-key-players-could-backfire\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">doesn\u2019t seem so bad<\/a>. In terms of talent level and skillset, he\u2019s close to Phoenix Suns guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bookede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devin Booker<\/a>, who\u2019ll make $49.2 million next season. Yet, Booker has yet to have a major injury, while LaVine has had two.<\/p>\n<p>In Feb. 2017, LaVine tore his left ACL, limiting him to 47 games in the 2016-17 season. Due to the timing of his injury, he didn\u2019t make his Bulls debut until Jan. 2018. Last season, he was limited to 25 games in 2023-24 due to a foot injury. His injury history isn\u2019t the worst there is, but it\u2019s substantially different than Booker\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>In an even more stark comparison, the final years of LaVine\u2019s contract mirror Dallas Mavericks playmaker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luka Doncic<\/a>\u2019s. For a player who has only helped his team get in the playoffs once, that\u2019s incomprehensible. Or at least so it seems.<\/p>\n<p>To be fair to LaVine though, few players were likely to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves \u2014who drafted him \u2014to the playoffs. A franchise that\u2019s regained popularity with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/edwaran01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Edwards<\/a> as its face, the Timberwolves were once one of the league\u2019s most dysfunctional organizations. Furthermore, in his first three seasons the Bulls, his best teammate was pre-breakout <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/markkla01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lauri Markannen<\/a>. That version wasn\u2019t an All-Star but fighting not to be considered a bust, his development far from linear.<\/p>\n<p>However, immediately after adding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/derozde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DeMar DeRozan<\/a> (and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/balllo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lonzo Ball<\/a>) to their core, Chicago reached the playoffs. It was their first time achieving that feat since 2017, when LaVine was still in Minnesota. In 2022-23, they failed to clinch a playoff berth but were just 1.0 game behind the eighth-seed Atlanta Hawks. This despite Ball, their starting point guard and best two-way playmaker, missing the entire season.<\/p>\n<h3>Does Zach LaVine Fit Kings, Warriors?<\/h3>\n<p>Ultimately, if placed in the right situation, LaVine can help a team reach the playoffs. What\u2019s clear is that he needs at least one All-Star beside him and DeRozan filled that role in Chicago. He also can\u2019t be relied on the spearhead the defense or be the primary facilitator, which is what the Bulls were missing in Ball\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately for Kings and Warriors, they have at least one All-Star apiece. Sacramento\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/foxde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">De\u2019Aaron Fox<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sabondo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Domantas Sabonis<\/a> are recognized as two of the best players at their position league-wide. Golden State still employs future Hall of Fame guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Curry<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, both have game-changing perimeter defenders. The Kings\u2019 defense is enhanced by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murrake02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Keegan Murray<\/a>\u2019s ability to switch onto multiple players. In 2023-24, Fox led the NBA in steals per game (2.0). The Warriors are anchored by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greendr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Draymond Green<\/a>, one of the best defenders of all-time. At his best, former No. 1 pick <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wiggian01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andrew Wiggins<\/a> makes life extra difficult for would-be scorers.<\/p>\n<h3>The Kings Make A Lot Of Sense<\/h3>\n<p>Golden State has less of a reason to trade for LaVine than Sacramento with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hieldbu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buddy Hield<\/a> on his way <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/03\/warriors-finalizing-trade-klay-thompson-replacement-buddy-hield\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">to the Bay<\/a>. They could still use LaVine\u2019s scoring punch and shooting stroke in the starting lineup if Hield comes off the bench. Nonetheless, they may want to hold onto their limited assets for a safer acquisition.<\/p>\n<p>With that being said, due the Kings\u2019 longstanding interest in LaVine, it wouldn\u2019t be surprising if he did end up in Sactown. If they did, it\u2019ll be a bit like dating the girl who got away. To that point, LaVine <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/report-zach-lavine-signs-four-year-offer-sheet-sacramento-kings\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">signed an $80 million offer sheet<\/a> (and that Bulls matched) in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, the Bulls are said to be fans of Kings shooting guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/huertke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Huerter<\/a>, who they wanted to draft in 2021.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Chicago Bulls are reportedly \u2018fans\u2019 of Kevin Huerter, per <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KCJHoop?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@KCJHoop<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vhjiXl8m2q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/vhjiXl8m2q<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheDunkCentral\/status\/1808485150663090257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>If Sacramento can get LaVine without giving up Murray or much (if any) draft capital, LaVine\u2019s new threads may have a distinctly royal hue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While the Chicago Bulls scour the league in their efforts to send Zach LaVine to a new home, NBC Sports Chicago\u2019s K.C. Johnson reports that he\u2019s \u201cled to believe that there are still two teams\u201d interested in trading for the two-time All-Star. \u201cAgain, everything\u2019s fluid&#8230;\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve been led to believe that there are two teams [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":84458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_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":[8,1608,25,62,29,4721],"tags":[4774,457],"class_list":["post-84450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bulls","category-basketball","category-warriors","category-nba","category-kings","category-trade-rumors","tag-rumors","tag-zach-lavine"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84450","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\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}