NBA Trade Rumors: The Detroit Pistons may have emerged as the favorite to land Zach LaVine ahead of the trade deadline.
On pace to finish with their worst record in franchise history, you would naturally assume that the Detroit Pistons are going to enter the NBA Trade Deadline as a seller. However, that may not be entirely true. There are recent rumblings that instead of doubling down as a seller, there's a chance the Pistons could head into the final two weeks before the trade deadline with the goal of improving their roster with veteran talent.
Of the veteran players on the trade block, there may be one that appeals the most to a team like the Pistons. And that very well may be Zach LaVine.
According to NBA reporter Marc Stein, the Detroit Pistons are one of the teams (perhaps the only team) that have maintained interest in LaVine. In addition to Stein, others have reported and touched on Detroit's supposed interest in LaVine. In the last week or so, it's gotten to the point where there are some real flames creating legit fire regarding a potential LaVine to the Pistons trade.
Add this wave of reporting to the fact that there has been a lighter-than-expected appetite for LaVine on the open market and there's a very real possibility that we could get to the trade deadline where the Pistons end up pulling the trigger on a deal for LaVine.
What could a Zach LaVine to the Detroit Pistons trade look like?
It's tough to predict how complicated or simple a potential LaVine to the Pistons trade could look like. However, there are several paths to this happening. Almost all of them revolve around a salary filler such as Bojan Bogdanovic being involved. After that, a sweetener will have to be included from the Pistons. It could be as simple as draft compensation and another filler salary or perhaps one of their promising young players.
Either way, there has to be some solid effort from the Pistons in negotiations to make right by the Bulls. Otherwise, with the way it seems, Chicago may feel good about walking away from negotiations.
Heading into the NBA Trade Deadline, one of the biggest questions will revolve around how badly the Bulls want to trade LaVine. Maybe the Pistons are a team that ends up winning the sweepstakes for the talented wing scorer.