No, Zach LaVine is Not Being Traded to the Pelicans
All it took was one sentence to send nearly all of Bulls Nation into a frenzy.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe was floating around the possible teams and players that could become involved in a trade that would send Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Bulls have been connected to this trade for quite some time now with their interest in acquiring Lonzo Ball.
Lowe simply said, “Young-ish good players available for the fourth overall pick [for the Lakers to send to the Pelicans for AD]… the first name I thought of was Zach LaVine. Because I think the Bulls might do that.”
Combine this with the growing sense around the league that the only two “Untouchable” players on the roster are Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. and you officially have a trade rumor.
Many of the proposed deals where LaVine is traded left the Bulls receiving the fourth overall pick and Lonzo Ball. Not only would this just generally be a bad deal for Chicago, but it also would not make any sense. For the sake of all arguments, know I am ONLY referencing the above deal.
Roster Construction
When the Bulls traded Jimmy Butler two years ago, the focus was put onto Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen. To this point, LaVine has certainly been the best player in the deal. He is coming off a season in which he reached a career high in nearly every statistic. Trading him undoes exactly what the rebuild has been working towards. In a sense, it blows up the roster again. LaVine has emerged as the leader of the young core and appears capable to lead the team to the playoffs barring injuries. Trading Zach means trading a budding star for a prospect in a draft that is considered one of the weakest in recent years. The Bulls would immediately be missing a player who can fill up the bucket at will. 23 points a game is not light-work. That can’t be replaced with a draft pick. Lonzo Ball fills the glaring need at point guard–more on that here–but his lack of scoring would essentially handicap the Bulls’ back-court.
One argument that was pointed out was, “Hey, but with LaVine’s contract gone the Bulls will have cap space!” There’s a problem there. What would that additional cap space be spent on? Prior to the addition of Otto Porter Jr., the Bulls had room for a max salary slot with LaVine. GarPax acknowledged that it was unlikely any major free agent would be willing to sign in Chicago so they mortgaged that space to upgrade the young core. Even after that, the Bulls will likely have around $23 million in salary to spend this offseason. There isn’t anybody that would sign with the team on the open market that would be an upgrade over Zach LaVine. All the extra space that would be created would likely go to waste.
The Draft
In any scenario, the Bulls should not make a trade prior to draft night. Many of the prospects the Bulls favor have a decent chance at slipping to pick seven. The only reason the Bulls should feel the need to trade up to four would be to select Vanderbilt’s Darius Garland. He would fit the need at point guard, but be redundant if Lonzo Ball is included in the same deal. Jarrett Culver would logically be the next target. He’s a very talented defensive wing who could eventually replace Otto Porter Jr. As mentioned though, he could fall to 7th overall. The Bulls don’t need to trade up for him and shouldn’t risk losing Zach LaVine to do so. It’d be stupid.
Maybe if this draft class was very strong outside of the top three this deal would be plausible, but it isn’t for this class. Many view it as a three-player draft and until proven otherwise, should be treated that way for trades. Don’t get rid of LaVine for a player that may never reach his level.
While LaVine is by no means untouchable, the Bulls would be foolish to get him involved in any trade package involving Lonzo and the #4 pick.
Featured Image: Kamil Krzaczynski/USA Today Sports
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