Chicago Bulls superstar Zach LaVine has found himself involved in a ton of NBA trade rumors recently. After signing a five-year, $215.2 million deal this offseason, he could find himself playing with another team in the next few weeks.
While the Bulls haven’t made anyone available yet, as they still believe when healthy they have a playoff-caliber team, it feels like that is something that could be on the horizon. Counting on this team getting healthy would be a major risk, so the front office could be better off doing a soft reset and acquiring some assets.
With Lonzo Ball’s return unknown because of a knee injury, the Bulls may never reach the level of success they had during the 2021-22 season before he went down. LaVine, coming off a knee procedure of his own, may not be someone Chicago wants to build around any longer. That feeling could be mutual.
In recent weeks there have been reports of tension growing within the locker room. There is a division between LaVine and DeMar DeRozan on the court as their skill sets overlap in some areas, causing some chemistry issues. That has led to LaVine questioning what his role is on the team.
“NBC Sports Chicago Insider K.C. Johnson said Bulls guard Zach LaVine “privately has questioned” his role standing amongst the franchise in a Monday edition of the “Bulls Talk Podcast.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Zach LaVine & Chicago Bulls Updates
If those kinds of talks are occurring, LaVine could ask the team to trade him ahead of the deadline. Recently in the NBA, we have seen that it doesn’t matter how many years are left on a player’s contract, if they want to be somewhere else they can push for it to happen. If there are as many issues as being insinuated for LaVine in Chicago, he could do the same.
Should LaVine get put on the trade block there will be plenty of interested teams. The New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat have all been mentioned as potential suitors already.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Zach LaVine & Chicago Bulls Updates
With a healthy market being available, the Bulls could opt to trade him and get as much value as they can for him now instead of toiling through more losing seasons.
