A variety of teams could be in the mix to acquire LaVine via trade.
Let’s analyze some potential destinations for LaVine. The Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets are betting favorites to land the Bulls star, both of which make sense. In addition, LaVine’s camp has made it clear that they have no interest in a trade to the New York Knicks.
For the Heat, it’s simple: they need scoring. LaVine could act as a supercharged Tyler Herro for them, but this somehow still feels disrespectful to LaVine’s level because he can create his own shot better and is miles better at actually getting downhill and toward the rim. Not to mention, he’s significantly more efficient on a tougher shot diet. This would be a super interesting move for Miami, and they can center the package around Herro.
If the Nets decide that they want to try to make some noise with their Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson (if re-signed), and Nicolas Claxton core, they could look to make a trade for LaVine to give them a pure bucket-getter. They have the draft picks from the trades that they made last season, so those could be assets to acquire LaVine. This certainly makes sense, but I personally like the Heat’s case more.
Rapid fire time for some teams that could find intrigue in LaVine, but these don’t feel as likely:
- The Dallas Mavericks may want another scorer if Kyrie Irving departs in free agency.
- The Los Angeles Lakers may decide they want an upgrade and send a package revolving around Austin Reaves to Chicago.
- The Orlando Magic may want to compete sooner rather than later with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, and they have a ton of assets to acquire LaVine.
- The Atlanta Hawks are the third betting favorite, as the Hawks may send Dejounte Murray after the Trae Young and Murray duo was somewhat of a failure.
LaVine can’t be the best player on a championship team. He probably can be your second-best player on a championship team if your best player is a top-10 player and the role players on the team are high-level. But if LaVine is your third-best player, you absolutely should be a contender to win the Larry O’Brien.
Whether or not LaVine is a Bull next season or, look for him to continue being a scoring monster, even if the points per game may not pop like it does for other stars. Unless the Bulls can make significant additions to the roster, it feels like LaVine will be out of Chicago within the next few years, as a contender or buyer could absolutely find value in his skillset.