Zach LaVine, a winger for the Chicago Bulls, has long been linked to the Los Angeles Lakers; however, no agreement has been reached. But given that both clubs have had a difficult season and that the Lakers are in need of more firepower to go along with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, this might be the ideal time to make a trade.
The Bulls would give up LaVine and Andre Drummond in this three-team trade arranged by Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report, but would receive D’Angelo Russell, Davis Bertans, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and three draft picks from the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Lakers in exchange.
The Bulls’ front office has been flagrantly ignoring the writing that has been sprayed on the wall for some time now. The Bulls “Big 3” of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic have played together for more than 3,000 minutes; perhaps this astounding statistic will wake them up. Chicago is down -2.8 points per 100 possessions during that time. That just isn’t acceptable for a team that wants to make the playoffs.
Russell and Bertrans might only be salary fillers in this deal given the young core the Bulls have, and they might be traded to a different team in the future. The draft selections the Bulls would receive in this hypothetical trade would be the true reward.
Of course, the primary concern with this deal is Chicago’s draft compensation. This is a somewhat respectable haul for a 2 with a significant injury history and little to no impact on winning for the previous couple of years, although the Bulls might want a little more for LaVine given that the Toronto Raptors received three firsts for Pascal Siakam, according to Bailey.
