NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks have started discussions on a potential Zach LaVine trade, per the Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley. The teams were reportedly talking on Wednesday, as well.
Up until this point, the word has been that the Bulls would stand pat at the trade deadline with their core players. LaVine, in particular, was considered “untouchable” earlier this season and a recent report from ESPN’s Jamal Collier shared that the two sides remain committed to one another.
With that said, earlier this morning Matt Moore of the Action Network reported that the Bulls were listening to offers on LaVine, and now Cowley is presenting us with a specific team name.
I’m still skeptical of the reports and whether a reasonable deal can get done with under two hours to go until the deadline. But I’d also be lying if I said the Knicks don’t make a ton of sense as a trade partner. Not only have they reportedly had their eye on LaVine for quite some time, but they are a team with several future first-round draft picks and multiple young player to package into a trade.
Now, do any of those youngsters have star potential? Eh, that’s where the hold up might be on the Bulls end, in my opinion. The Bulls would likely be craving some high-end young talent in return for LaVine’s services to go along with good draft compensation.
The last thing to note for now is this: If the Bulls are listening on LaVine, the same must be the case for DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic, right? You simply can’t trade the youngest of the “big 3” and continue forward. The goal should then undoubtedly be to enter full rebuild mode and collect as many assets and youngsters as possible.
Anyway, we’ll keep our eye on this over the next couple of hours. My best guess is that nothing still gets done, especially since we have yet to hear anything from a Woj or Shams on these two massive markets talking.
