Ranking Potential Zach Lavine Trades

Rumors continue to surface about the Chicago Bulls management listening to offers and carefully evaluating the possibility of trading Zach LaVine, a highly talented and exceptional scorer, for other players or assets. While LaVine's contract of 40 million per year for the next four years is significant, it is still within reasonable bounds for a player of his caliber. Despite his obvious talent, LaVine's individual success hasn't translated into enough team wins or playoff success, and I do see the appeal of trading him, as he'd net the biggest return of anyone currently on the roster. Personally, I feel they should keep Lavine and continue to build around him, as his play style fits the modern NBA and he's just entering his prime years, but I unfortunately don't run the Bulls organization. Keeping that in mind, I took a look around the NBA and ranked the 5 best potential destinations if Bulls management decides to move on from their franchise player.

Honorable Mentions.

Nets, Sixers, Hawks, Heat and Trail Blazers.

These teams have been mentioned, but without a 3rd team involved, they just don't have enough to make a sensible trade(or are unwilling to include a major asset) The Nets would almost certainly have to include Simmons to match contracts, and the Bulls shouldn't be interested in that. The Nets could piece together enough salary by including Spencer Dinwiddie, but they'd be left without any real options for a starting Point Guard. The Sixers have an expiring Harden, whose made it clear he wants to play for the Clippers, and the Bulls shouldn't be interested in trading for an expiring contract that doesn't want to be in Chicago. Any other deal with Philly(especially without Maxey) should be a non-starter for the Bulls. Unless the Hawks would be interested in a Trae Young for Lavine swap, they don't have much to work with. The Heat's best offer would be centered around either Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson, or Kyle Lowry and Nikola Jovic and the Bulls shouldn't consider either package a fair return. The Trail Blazers have Anfornee Simons, who is an intriguing prospect, but they don't have the draft assets or complimentary pieces, and are still waiting to see what their roster looks like after the impending Damian Lillard trade.

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#5 Orlando Magic

Bulls Receive: Jonathan Isaac, Gary Harris, Cole Anthony, 1st round picks in '25 and '27 and 2nd round picks in '24, '25, '27 and '28

Magic Receive: Zach Lavine

Along with replenishing their war chest with draft assets, Jonathan Isaac is the key piece for the Bulls in this trade. When healthy, Isaac would be exactly the type of PF you would want next to Vucevic down low. He's a defensive specialist that's long and athletic and can knock down open 3pt shots. "When healthy" is the key, unfortunately, as he sat for 2 full seasons with serious injuries and barely played this past season. The Bulls would need a very thorough physical evaluation and would have to feel very confident in his physical abilities moving forward. The last thing they need is a player making almost 20 million a season that's unable to play due to injuries. Because of that uncertainty, a bevy of draft assets is included. From the Magic's standpoint, Zach Lavine addresses a key need for them and would make them a competitive playoff team while they continue developing their young players. Even by handing out this large draft haul, they still have plenty leftover, including most of their own 1st and multiple additional 2nd's.

Bulls Projected Lineup Post-Trade

PG: Coby White, Javon Carter, Cole Anthony, Carlik Jones

SG: Demar Derozan, Gary Harris

SF: Patrick Williams, Alex Caruso, Dalen Terry

PF: Jonathan Isaac, Torrey Craig, Julian Phillips

C: Nikola Vucevic, Andre Drummond

#4 Charlotte Hornets

Bulls Receive: Terry Rozier, P.J. Washington(sign and trade), 1st round picks in '26 and '28, 2nd round picks in '27 and '28

Hornets Receive: Zach Lavine

Bulls could view this as replacing 1 starter with 2, while adding some quality draft assets and cap flexibility. Terry Rozier would most likely be viewed as the starting Point Guard and P.J. Washington would likely be the starting Power Forward. Rozier's production is actually very similar to Lavine, with Rozier averaging slightly fewer points per game but adding a little more defensively. Both players shoot similar percentages from 3pt range, with Zach being more efficient inside the arc. PJ Washington could be replaced by Kelly Oubre in this scenario and the money would still likely work. I think Charlotte would hesitate to include PJ and that much draft capital, but Zach is a high ceiling, legitimate AllStar caliber player that would elevate their franchise. It's also worth noting that Charlotte has made some recent changes in their ownership, and they may be looking to make a splash with a playoff push. A Lamelo and Lavine backcourt would be exciting and fun to watch at the very least.

Bulls Projected Lineup Post-Trade

PG: Terry Rozier, Javon Carter, Carlik Jones

SG: Coby White, Alex Caruso, Dalen Terry

SF: Demar Derozan, Torry Craig

PF: P.J. Washington, Patrick Williams, Julian Phillips

C: Nikola Vucevic, Andre Drummond

#3 Houston Rockets

Bulls Receive: Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr, Jae'Sean Tate, Tari Eason and four 2nd round picks over the next 2 drafts

Rockets Receive: Zach Lavine, Ayo Dosunmu(sign and trade)

All offseason the Houston Rockets have acted like a team Hell-Bent on making the playoffs next season, no matter the cost. Trading for Zach Lavine would play right into that sentiment. Houston currently has a ton of young talent and additional draft picks, but don't seem content to wait on player development. Lavine would pair nicely with Fred Van Fleet to form one of the most talented and balanced backcourts in the NBA. Zach's 3pt shooting, secondary playmaking and ability to run the floor with new draftee Amen Thompson should intrigue the Rockets. The Rockets would have a great mix of win-now talent to pair with a young core of Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr and Alperen Sengun, as well as retaining a huge amount of excess draft picks they've gathered over the past couple seasons. Bulls would have an exciting young core of their own to pair with veteran Allstars DeRozan and Vucevic, ideally developing that core in a winning, playoff environment. I think this trade would just be the start, and they would look to consolidate some of the talent further, or flip a player like Kevin Porter Jr for additional draft assets.

Bulls Projected Lineup Post-Trade

PG: Coby White, Javon Carter, Carlik Jones

SG: Jalen Green, Alex Caruso, Kevin Porter Jr, Dalen Terry

SF: Demar Derozan, Torrey Craig, Jae'Sean Tate

PF: Patrick Williams, Tari Eason, Julian Phillips

C: Nikola Vucevic, Andre Drummond

#2 Toronto Raptors

Bulls Receive: Pascal Siakam

Raptors Receive: Zach Lavine, Ayo Donsunmu (sign and trade), Portland's lottery protected 1st round pick in 2024

Bulls have a ton of Guards on the roster, Raptors have a ton of Forwards on the roster, so a swap might make sense. This is a rare occurrence where a player arguably better than Lavine is involved in the trade, and although they don't have many tradeable assets to add, they do have that Portland pick that's listed as a 1st rounder (but will likely end up converting to a 2nd round pick in 2028 due to lottery protections) Although they're both extremely talented, Pascal does bring slightly more all-around production to the table, and fits an area of need for the Bulls. The Bulls rotation would click into place a little more smoothly with DeRozan and Williams both sliding up a spot into their more natural positions of SG and SF. Raptors would look for Lavine to not only replace Van Fleets production on the wing, but exceed it. There would also be some addition by subtraction as the Raptors would open up even more opportunities for their young developing stars like OG Anunoby and Scottie Barnes. The Raptors have had terrible luck in recent years losing a ton of key, important, star level players for nothing in Free Agency. Having Zach Lavine locked in for a few years would far exceed losing Pascal Siakam for nothing next summer. The Bulls would take on the risk of Pascal leaving next summer, and would likely need some sort of assurances he'd be interested in staying around. I generally hate the trade scenarios that view Lavine trades as salary dumps, but the Bulls could potentially open up a ton of cap space next summer with Demar and Pascal on expiring contracts, if it doesn't translate to wins this season. Bulls would still be on the hunt for interior depth.

Bulls Projected Lineup Post-Trade

PG: Coby White, Javon Carter, Carlik Jones

SG: Demar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, Dalen Terry

SF: Patrick Williams, Torrey Craig

PF: Pascal Siakam, Julian Phillips

C: Nikola Vucevic, Andre Drummond

#1 Utah Jazz

Bulls Receive: Collin Sexton, Kelly Olynyk, Ochai Agbaji and 4 future 1st round picks

Raptors Receive: Zach Lavine

Last season, the Utah Jazz were the surprise team of the NBA, at least for the first half. After the Jazz tore down their entire roster and received two enormous hauls via the Cavaliers and Timberwolves, this rag-tag group of players cast off by their former teams made a legitimate push. They were led by an emerging AllStar Lauri Markennen, surprise draftee Walker Kessler and continued solid play from players like Jordan Clarkson and Kelly Olynyk. They have an enormous war chest of draft assets to work with, and even after giving up 4 future 1st, they'd still have two 1st round picks most years for the foreseeable future. The one year they're lacking draft assets is in 2024, meaning they have no incentive at all to not win as many games as possible this upcoming season. Enter Zach Lavine, who, like many of the teams listed above, would elevate their teams floor into playoff contention. The Bulls get back two players in Collin Sexton and Kelly Olynyk who would compete for starting spots, a young prospect in Agbaji, and a Donovan Mitchell esq haul of four future 1st round picks. Jordan Clarkson may be a more natural fit over Collin Sexton, but he recently signed an extension and isn't able to be traded until January, which may still be an option, but would likely net one fewer 1st round pick for the Bulls. It would be bittersweet moment for Bulls fans to watch a team featuring Zach Lavine, Lauri Markennen and Kris Dunn entering their primes and competing in the playoffs.

Bulls Projected Lineup Post-Trade

PG: Collin Sexton, Javon Carter, Carlik Jones

SG: Coby White, Alex Caruso, Dalen Terry

SF: Demar DeRozan, Torry Craig, Ochai Agbaji

PF: Patrick Williams, Kelly Olynyk, Julian Phillips

C: Nikola Vucevic, Andre Drummond

Trade Scenarios "verified" via Fanspo.com

Any statistics used were found on Basketball-Reference.com