From November 28 to January 5, Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine was out of the lineup. He was dealing with a foot injury that kept him sidelined, but when he was out, the Bulls turned their season around, pushing their way back into the race for the Play-In Tournament in the Eastern Conference.
However, at the start of LaVine’s extended absence, the Bulls were reportedly focused on finding a trade for the star guard. And even now that he’s returned to the court, rumors of a potential LaVine trade have continued to swirl. That said, it’s not yet clear what direction the Bulls plan to take at the deadline.
According to head coach Billy Donovan, Bulls GM Arturas Karnisovas has not given him any indication that LaVine will definitely be traded.
“Arturas [Karnisovas, executive vice president of basketball operations] has never told me for sure [LaVine’s] going to be gone,” Donovan said via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “He’s never said that to me, and we do talk all the time. I know I sound like a broken record here, but he generally comes to me when there’s stuff that’s important as far as the decisions being made. For me, I’ve always taken the approach that this is our team for the rest of the year until something changes. . . . As a coach, if you sit around and say, ‘Well, this guy can be moved, this guy can be moved,’ then you’re looking at, ‘Who are we getting back?’ To me, it would be just a waste of energy.”
With the February 8 trade deadline now a month away, all eyes should be on Chicago.
