With just over three weeks until the NBA Trade Deadline, the market is beginning to heat up around the league. With another batch of players becoming eligible to be traded today, the framework of potential deals can be expanded even more.
One of the teams who are working diligently to find some trades to make is the Chicago Bulls. The writing has been on the wall for a rebuild in Chicago for months, as they started the season with a player’s only meeting on opening night.
Shortly after that, it was reported that the Bulls roster would not be the same a month after the 2023-24 NBA regular season got underway. While no moves have been made yet, it feels like a matter of when, not if, they pull the trigger on something.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Zach LaVine, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls Updates
One of the players who they would like to move is former All-Star shooting guard Zach LaVine. LaVine has been linked to several teams around the NBA this season as trade suitors, one of whom is the Los Angeles Lakers.
However, according to ESPN’s NBA analyst Brian Windhorst, don’t expect LaVine to be wearing purple and gold any time soon. During a recent episode of The Hoop Collective, Windhorst revealed the chances of the Lakers acquiring LaVine in a trade.
“I think there’s a zero percent chance of the Lakers trading for Zach Lavine,” Windhorst said rather bluntly when talking to ESPN’s Tim Bontempts and Tim MacMahon.
LaVine is still in his prime, turning 29 years old in March. However, his market is reportedly ice cold, as no teams are lining up to acquire him. When taking a deeper dive into the situation, it is easy to see why there isn’t a market and why Windhorst sounds so confident the Lakers won’t make a move for him.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Zach LaVine, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls Updates
His injury history is certainly concerning. LaVine has missed double-digit amount of games in seven out of the last eight seasons, with his 77 games played last season the most since the 2015-16 season when he was with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The biggest knock against LaVine currently, though, is his contract. There aren’t any teams that want to add a player with two guaranteed seasons, and a player option worth nearly $50 million, remaining on the five-year, $215,159,700 contract he signed in 2022 that includes a 15 percent trade kicker.
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