The Chicago Bulls were stampeding through the NBA last season. They held the best record in the Eastern Conference at midseason before a spate of injuries torpedoed their year.
This time around, they’re 13-18 and in 11th place in the East. It’s starting to become clear this group will not get the job done. That realization has led to rumors Chicago may choose to hit the proverbial reset button, and none of its key players have been immune from such rumors.
Zach LaVine, its high-flying shooting guard, supposedly wants out according to Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney, and he reportedly would like to be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Via Heavy.com:
“LaVine wants to go to the Lakers, that has been pretty clear for a while now,” and Eastern Conference executive told Deveney. “The agents (from Klutch Sports) want him to be in Los Angeles, he is a UCLA guy and they did some rattling about his contract last offseason, to kind of lay the groundwork if things blew up. Which they seem to be doing.”
LaVine is represented by Klutch Sports, the agency founded by LeBron James and his business partner Rich Paul.
The executive also pointed out he doesn’t think the Bulls would trade LaVine during the season, but a deal could happen this summer if that’s what the Bulls decide to do.
Lakers fans shouldn't get their hopes up
The Bulls have made it clear they have no interest in Russell Westbrook, and of course, if the Lakers were to try to trade for LaVine this summer, Westbrook wouldn’t even be an option since he will become a free agent.
The only viable option for L.A. would be to essentially swap Anthony Davis for LaVine. Plenty of Lakers fans have wanted the team to rid itself of Davis for a while given how injury-prone he seems. However, it seems the team doesn’t have any real interest in even considering trading away Davis.
“The problem on LaVine is from the Lakers’ side, there is nothing they could trade to Chicago short of Anthony Davis,” the executive said. “Now, that is a possibility—Davis is a Chicago guy and if he were going to leave the Lakers, the Bulls would be one of the few places he’d be OK with. The Bulls and the Lakers would be swapping stars with injury problems, essentially. LaVine (who is 27) is younger than Davis, so that is an advantage but at full health, Davis (29) is a much, much better player.”
It should be noted that LaVine hasn’t appeared in more than 68 games in a season since the 2015-16 campaign, his second in the NBA.
Furthermore, there would be another obstacle for the Lakers. The Bulls’ ownership reportedly doesn’t want to help the Lakers.
Via Lakers Daily:
“While there are certain trade scenarios that could have the Chicago Bulls star landing in L.A., Bulls chairperson Jerry Reinsdorf might not be fond of the possibility, according to one agent.
“‘Not many teams would consider taking on a player dealing with knee issues on such a massive contract,’ wrote Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. ‘Multiple NBA sources struggled to come up with market value given the circumstances. The same sources agreed if there’s a price no one else would pay, the Lakers might be willing, though one didn’t think the Buss family would consider that large a contract.
“‘Of course, that speculation could easily be moot. As one agent declared, “(Bulls chairperson Jerry) Reinsdorf isn’t helping the Lakers.”
“‘If LaVine wants out, Reinsdorf and the Bulls have no obligation to honor any request.'”
There are reportedly a number of executives around the league who aren’t willing to help the Lakers become championship contenders again, and if that is true, it will be that much harder for them to ever attain banner No. 18.
