1. Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls
If there's one team who has made their intentions clear heading into the NBA Trade Deadline, it's the Chicago Bulls. There has been no sugarcoating their priorities heading into this season - and it's that they want to move past their previous builds and enter a new era for the franchise. The team is hoping to accomplish that by trading a few of their veterans on their roster. The biggest priority for the team heading into this year's NBA Trade Deadline season has to be finding a new home for Zach LaVine.
Dating back to last year, the Bulls have been looking to trade LaVine. Even though they haven't had much luck on that front, the hope is that it will change this time around. But even though LaVine is playing better of late, it does still appear that his trade market is limited. If that's going to continue to be the case, it's hard to imagine the Bulls finding a deal that makes sense for all sides involved at the trade deadline. But at this point, I do believe there's a chance that Chicago will settle for whatever offer they can get. There may be more value in just trading LaVine and moving on right now.
Odds of a Zach LaVine trade: 48%
Because I believe the Bulls are in desperate mode right now, I do believe that there's a strong chance that LaVine will be traded before the deadline. In fact, there's a part of me that would be flat-out surprised if he was still on the roster past the deadline. The Bulls desperately need to move on from LaVine and trading him is the only way to do so. Even if the Bulls get negative value in return, it's something that they will have to strongly consider doing as we get closer to the trade deadline.
It's not necessarily that LaVine is a bad player or a bad locker-room presence. It's simply at the point where he's not a good fit for the team at all. And if the Bulls agree with that, it makes no sense to keep him on the roster much longer. It could prove to be a difficult process but trading LaVine is Chicago's only option at this point. The Bulls know it needs to happen and LaVine knows is eventually going to happen.