NBA Trade Rumors: The Chicago Bulls could make a bold move this summer as they quietly weigh the trade value of Zach LaVine.
Entering the offseason, the Chicago Bulls are in a difficult position. They have a win-now roster but have not done much winning in the last two seasons. The confusion surrounding Lonzo Ball’s injury doesn’t help matters either. Nevertheless, the Bulls are faced with a big question this summer – Do they continue to try to build around this core or do they hit the rebuild button?
No matter what road they choose to go down, neither path is expected to be easy. At least on the surface, the expectation was that the Bulls were going to enter the offseason in hopes of continuing to build around Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
However, that may all be in jeopardy considering it was recently reported that the Bulls have started to quietly gauge the trade interest of LaVine on the open market. The question is, what would have to happen for the Bulls to seriously consider trading LaVine?
Would the Chicago Bulls trade Zach LaVine this offseason?
I suppose this is a fall-back plan that the Bulls may be preparing for, but it would be interesting to see what the response was from rival teams. LaVine is a really good player, perhaps one of the most underrated players in the league, and is just 28 years old.
In a vacuum, you would assume that the Bulls would be able to get a healthy offer for LaVine on the open market. But that could prove to be difficult considering the rest of the league may be waiting to see what happens with Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal.
I still find it hard to believe that the Bulls are going to trade LaVine this offseason. If they get an offer that they can’t refuse, I suppose it’s something that they’d have to entertain. But with DeRozan on the books for one more season, it’s probably in the best interest of the team to try to surround these two difference-makers with a capable supporting cast and see what happens.
The uncertainty surrounding Ball makes everything that much more difficult for this team. But there’s really nothing the Bulls can do about that right now. It’s something they will have to wait out until it’s settled.
At least for now, I wouldn’t expect a LaVine trade. And it would be one of the bigger surprises in recent NBA transaction history if it did happen this summer.