The Chicago Bulls want to keep their core mostly intact for next season, and it looks like any deviations from Arturas Karnisovas’ overall plan would be costly to a potential buyer in a trade. The stubbornness could greatly benefit the Bulls or keep them in a situation where they are running a cylinder or two short.
The Bulls are actively shopping Zach LaVine before the NBA draft this Thursday. The Bulls have no draft picks this season, and they could certainly use one. According to a new report by K.C. Johnson with NBC Sports, the Bulls front office hopes to use a LaVine trade as their offseason half-court buzzer-beater.
The Chicago Bulls want a large return for Zach LaVine
Johnson said the Bulls are marketing LaVine as a high-priced asset. They want a solid young player in addition to multiple first-round picks and salary help:
“The Bulls, according to league sources, are valuing LaVine highly, as they should. He’s a two-time All-Star who is coming off a season in which he overcame a slow start to average 24.8 points per game on a true shooting percentage of 60.7 percent.
One league source said the Bulls would be focused on getting a good young player, multiple first-round picks and salary filler if they decide to trade LaVine. Another said one first-round pick and an established, high-end player might be sufficiently intriguing.”
The 28-year-old is a two-time All-Star. He should fetch the Bulls great compensation from a contender who would use LaVine’s services as an opportunity to win the NBA Finals. He has the talent to help a team make a deep playoff run. LaVine would be useful on the Bulls for that purpose, but with Lonzo Ball’s injury, the team needs more than his and DeMar DeRozan’s skillsets overlapping during games.
However, that price tag feels unrealistic. LaVine struggled too much after the hefty contract he signed last offseason. One wouldn’t assume a contender would offer that many key potential pieces in return for LaVine. Unfortunately, the real negotiations might prove too sober for the Bulls’ front office to make a needed trade with LaVine or DeRozan.
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