Zach LaVine Joins Zion Williamson & Brandon Ingram
After only playing in 24 games last year, there was a lot of hype surrounding Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans entering this NBA season. With a plethora of young talent led by Williamson and Ingram, some veteran talents in Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams, as well as a new, well-respected head coach in Stan Van Gundy, the Pelicans were picked by many to make the playoffs this year, but they have been very inconsistent.
They started the season very shaky, but have turned things around lately and are one of the hottest teams in the entire league. They are very much in the playoff picture in the Western Conference, but this team needs that third, reliable scoring threat to be able to make a run in the postseason.
Zach LaVine’s name has been brought up a lot in NBA trade rumors and much of it is because of the lack of success the Chicago Bulls have experienced over the years. The 25-year old guard is playing at the highest level of his NBA career now and if Chicago cannot turn things around quickly, he may want out and to be traded to a team that is invested in wanting to win now.
Since joining the Bulls, Zach LaVine has been their best player year-in and year-out, averaging 22.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.2 steals and shooting 43.3% from the floor and 36.5% from three-point range. LaVine has been this organization’s only bright spot as they have won just 71 games since acquiring him, not including this season, as they have been rebuilding for years now.
Not only is he one of the hottest names on the trade market right now, but Zach LaVine is owed just $39M over the next two seasons. The Pelicans could easily free up the cap space to bring LaVine to New Orleans, giving them three young and high-level talents in the Western Conference.
The 25-year old combo-guard made a name for himself being a high-flying, acrobatic dunker in the dunk contest, but Zach LaVine has turned himself into a three dimensional scorer on the offensive-end of the court. The production he would bring to this New Orleans team would not only help them in their quest to make the playoffs, but give them three All-Star level players in their 20’s that they could build around for years to come.
While the Pelicans have been good at times defensively this year, they have played rather poor on the offensive end of the court. They currently rank 16th in scoring and rank 19th in three-point shooting percentage.
The addition of Zach LaVine would not only help them in those categories, but they would not have to give up too much in order to get him. Lonzo Ball, J.J. Redick and Josh Hart are three players on expiring contracts that the Pelicans have already been looking to trade near the NBA trade deadline this year and all three guys could be packaged together to acquire LaVine.
Creating a “Big 3” in New Orleans has to be the ultimate goal of this franchise and could set them up for plenty of playoff success down the road. Adding Zach LaVine to their roster makes the Pelicans a sure-thing playoff team this season and allows them to build this team into a legit championship contender.
