The Los Angeles Lakers get a third team involved
If the Los Angeles Lakers do end up making the move for Zach LaVine, there’s probably a very good chance that it’s going to rely on the participation of a third team. If that does end up being the case, the San Antonio Spurs are a team to keep an eye on. They were interested in Austin Reaves during the offseason and perhaps they’d be open to revisiting that interest in a blockbuster deal before the NBA Trade Deadline.
In this deal, the Spurs would receive Reaves and Jalen Hood-Schifino and send out Malaki Banham, Cedi Osman, and a future first-round pick to help push this deal across the finish line. The Lakers would get LaVine (from the Bulls) and Osman (from the Spurs). And the Bulls would get the haul of D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Branham, a protected 2026 first-round pick from San Antonio, and an unprotected 2029 first-round pick from Los Angeles.
If the Lakers need to get creative to finalize a deal for LaVine, this is a possibility that could work. Whether the Spurs would want to do so remains to be seen, but Reaves could be a good veteran presence to put in the young Spurs locker room.
The Lakers’ path toward landing LaVine could be complicated but it is possible. The question is, how badly do they want to make it happen? And will the Bulls be a willing participant?