The Chicago Bulls will likely have some tough decisions to make in the next 12 months. DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic are at the tail-end of their careers, and Lonzo Ball’s injury hell shows no sign of ending. As such, the Bulls are unlikely to be a contending team and could find themselves scrapping for a spot in the play-in tournament.
Unfortunately, Chciago’s predicted struggles will leave Zach LaVine in a tough spot. The two-time All-Star is entering his prime years and will undoubtedly want to compete for championships. LaVine is also the Bulls’ best trade chip and could find himself being shopped around the league before the February trade deadline.
Buy Bulls TicketsAccording to Bleacher Reports Zach Buckley, a potential trade with the Orlando Magic could be the ideal solution for the Bulls, as it would allow them to instantly enter a rebuild with some high-end young talent and a flyer on an impactful yet injury-prone big man.
The trade package
Here is the full outline of Buckley’s proposed trade:
Bulls receive: Jonathan Isaac, Gary Harris, Jalen Suggs, 2025 first-round pick (top-three protected) and a 2025 first-round pick (top-five protected, via DEN)
Orlando receives: Zach LaVine
Buckley's reasoning
As part of his trade proposal, Buckley shared some reasoning as to why this deal could make sense for the Bulls.
“While Chicago has bought into this core for now, it might have to prioritize the future at some point sooner than later,” Buckley wrote. “This trade would be a massive step in that direction, both by getting LaVine’s deal off the books and delivering a pair of future firsts, plus Suggs, the No. 5 pick of the 2021 draft who has started slow but still offers plenty of promise at both ends.”
“Harris could be a plug-and-play option—unless the Bulls routed him elsewhere for additional assets…The perpetually injured Isaac (45 games played the past four seasons combined) is strictly a money-matcher here, though Chicago might hold out hope of the 25-year-old finally getting healthy and becoming an impact defender again.”
Would the Bulls make the trade
If Chicago does decide to trade away LaVine in the near future, they will have no shortage of interested parties. However, if the front office is sold on the idea of rebuilding the roster around fresh young talent, the proposed deal with Orlando would be a fantastic building block.
Two first round picks plus Jalen Suggs is a solid return for LaVine, especially if the Bulls can find ways to re-direct Harris and Isaac. Nevertheless, there will likely be other packages of the same ilk available, and the Bulls would be wise to do their due diligence on the type of interest LaVine would garner in the trade market.
Nevertheless, Chicago could choose to stand pat this season, and see how things play out once Ball returns to the rotation in the 2024-25 season, assuming there’s no further setbacks.
