Report: Teams probing availability of Bulls SG Zach LaVine via trade

NBA teams are probing the availability of Chicago Bulls SG Zach LaVine via trade, per Shams Charania. The Bulls and LaVine are becoming more open to exploring a trade and teams are becoming interested. Chicago has struggled early in the season with a 4-7 record while the offense ranks in the bottom third of the NBA in points per game. LaVine is the Bulls’ leading scorer at 21.9 points per game on the season. So with this report coming out, what can we expect to happen? Shams provides some details.

Charania mentions in his report that the Bulls’ players voiced frustration over the offense following a loss in the opener to the Thunder earlier in the season. It seems Chicago values veteran DeMar DeRozan and re-signing him to a new contract. If that’s the case, having two primary scorers on the same roster doesn’t make sense with this current construction. LaVine signed a five-year, $215 million max contract before last season. Let’s get right into whether or not the Bulls should trade LaVine.

Should the Bulls trade Zach LaVine?

The easy answer is yes. The contract is going to be tough to move, but the Bulls aren’t in any position to compete for a championship at the moment. If that’s the case, there’s no reason to keep LaVine around any longer. His value isn’t quite as high as it was before and his contract is tough for most of the NBA to fit in. But a contending team or fringe contender would love to add a scorer like LaVine to the fold at this point in the season. Chicago should definitely try and find a deal for LaVine to recoup some assets/picks/players in an attempt to retool and craft an offense that makes sense for the roster.

Chicago Bulls contracts

If the Bulls are able to move on from LaVine’s deal, the team could let DeRozan walk and have a lot of cap flexibility for a rebuild. F Patrick Williams will need a new contract but the Bulls wouldn’t be tied to anyone long-term other than C Nikola Vucevic, who could also easily be traded away given his salary. It seems the Bulls are becoming more and more aware that a rebuild may be the best path forward after this iteration of the team failed to compete. Below is a look at the Bulls’ contract situation via SalarySwish.com.