NBA Rumors: According to a recent report, Zach LaVine will have plenty of suitors this offseason – including the Lakers, Blazers, Mavs, and Hawks.
The season didn’t play out as entirely envisioned for the Chicago Bulls. Heading into the offseason, the expectation is that this team is expected to make additions to the team in an attempt to take a step forward.
However, there’s one thing the Bulls have to do before making additions – and that’s re-signing Zach LaVine.
LaVine is a free agent this summer and it’s already reported that he’s going to take an “open mind” approach to the offseason. If that is indeed so, there will be a robust market for LaVine, who has made strides in his game over the last few seasons.
According to a recent report, a few of the teams that are expected to be interested in LaVine are the Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, and Portland Trail Blazers.
"[via NBC Sports]What’s certain is that league gossip throughout this week has linked LaVine to at least four teams — Lakers, Trail Blazers, Mavericks, Hawks — with almost certainly more to follow."
Each of those four teams makes a ton of sense and all of them are projected playoff teams heading into next season. LaVine is a really good player and would definitely benefit from being a natural No. 2 or 3 option. That would effectively be the case for every team that is expected to show interest.
Even though you can make a case that he’s been that with the Bulls this past season, I’m not really sure if DeMar DeRozan was that much better than LaVine. And that was probably the biggest reason why this team couldn’t compete with some of the other top-heavy teams in the Eastern Conference.
However, if the Bulls don’t effectively remedy that during the offseason, it sounds like there’s at least a chance that LaVine could try and seek that elsewhere.
This should be an interesting offseason in the NBA. Will it be one of the Bulls and LaVine as well?