NBA Rumors: According to a recent report, the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t willing to include Austin Reaves in a Zach LaVine trade package.
It took less than three weeks into the regular season for the NBA trade rumor mill to get running. Zach LaVine is the latest star to find himself in the thick of trade whispers. While he’s not necessarily being shopped at the moment, there’s recent reporting that suggests that could change soon.
If the Chicago Bulls do end up shopping LaVine ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline, there will be many contenders interested. As you would expect, the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to be one of the teams to inquire. The question is, do they have enough assets to pull off a deal? For now, that remains to be seen.
According to a recent report, the Lakers are expected to show interest in LaVine but may not be willing to go all-in on him. One player they’re not willing to include in any potential trades for LaVine is Austin Reaves. And that could prevent big problems to the Lakers’ chances of landing LaVine.
The trade market for Zach LaVine could be underwhelming
Over the last couple of days, the whispers surrounding LaVine aren’t great. If this report is accurate that the Lakers aren’t willing to include LaVine in a potential deal, it proves that they’re not willing to go all-in for him. The same appears to be the case for the New York Knicks according to recent reporting and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Miami Heat could end up waiting for the Donovan Mitchell situation to be figured out before they burn all their assets on LaVine.
The way things are trending, the Bulls could run into a shallow market for LaVine heading into the trade deadline.
And you’d have to wonder if this could push the Bulls away from the stance of being open to trading LaVine and simply waiting until the offseason to revisit the possibility. Either way, it’s something to keep in mind over the next couple of months.
If the Lakers do land LaVine, it appears they’re going to try to lowball their way into getting there. It’ll be interesting to see how this situation ends. And if they are able to pull it off, kudos to the front office. But that may be unlikely at this point.