The Los Angeles Clippers are hoping to remain competitive in the 2024-25 season despite parting with Paul George this summer. The team has made a lot of defense-oriented signings this summer like Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. along with bringing Kevin Porter Jr. back to the NBA, but they don’t look like contenders in the stacked Western Conference right now. They need a major offensive addition to take the load off a 35-year-old James Harden and an injury-prone 33-year-old Kawhi Leonard.
The Chicago Bulls haven’t received any interest from NBA teams around the league in taking Zach LaVine off their hands, with some even speculating that the Bulls might have to give up assets in a deal to dump LaVine to a new franchise. As the team is looking to reshape its core after losing DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso this summer, trading LaVine is a natural next step.
The Clippers and Bulls could discuss a potential LaVine trade, giving the asset-strapped Clippers a star-level player while the Bulls land rotational players they can use now or trade for future assets.
Trade Details
Los Angeles Clippers Receive: Zach LaVine, Torrey Craig
Chicago Bulls Receive: Norman Powell, Terance Mann, P.J. Tucker
The Clippers would be foolish to ignore a deal like this, as it lands them two rotational pieces who could greatly help their roster. Outside the organization valuing Terance Mann as a home-grown success story, there really isn’t a competitive reason for the Clippers to turn this down, as the Bulls open up long-term salary flexibility.
The Clippers Keep Their Contention Hopes Alive
There are very few routes to contention for the Clippers this season. Expecting Kawhi Leonard to stay healthy for most of the season when he’s expected to enter the season hurt is not realistic. It doesn’t seem realistic to assume that James Harden will be producing at the level we saw with the Houston Rockets or Brooklyn Nets given his drop in consistency in recent seasons. Even if Ty Lue can get them to be a top-five defense in the NBA, they can’t move forward without more offensive talent.
LaVine averaged 24.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in his last healthy season in 2022-23. He struggled with injuries last season and averaged 19.5 points and 5.2 rebounds before being shut down in February, but he’s a proven offensive contributor who’s made All-Star games before. The Clippers will be taking a bet on his health, but if he can stay healthy, this is a massive upgrade in a trade that won’t include draft picks.
Craig is a solid 3-and-D rotational player who averaged 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds last season. He would provide solid frontcourt play for the Clippers alongside the likes of Nicolas Batum.
The Clippers owe their 2025 first-round pick to the OKC Thunder, so tanking in their first season in the Intuit Dome is not an option for the franchise. LaVine is a marquee player in the NBA who’s had some tough seasons with the Bulls. A new opportunity in the state where he went to college could help rehabilitate his career as well as give the Clippers a true scorer they can rely upon given the lack of those options on the roster right now.
The Bulls Finally Move On From LaVine
Even though the Bulls didn’t draft LaVine in 2014, he has been a franchise player for them since he was acquired in 2017 as part of the Jimmy Butler trade. He was traded to the Bulls while he was recovering from a torn ACL but managed to return and become one of the most electric scorers in the NBA. The Bulls chose to build a contender around him in 2021, but injuries caused that core to collapse. LaVine is now unhappy with the Bulls but still under contract for three seasons.
LaVine demanded a trade last season but the Bulls couldn’t find a home for him, with his value freefalling in that time. There’s no market for LaVine and the Bulls would be hard-pressed to find a trade where they don’t part with assets of their own. This deal lands them multiple rotational players who could even contribute to the team’s quest to be competitive this season while allowing their young stars to carry a bigger load.
Norman Powell averaged 13.9 points last season, proving to be a great spark plug option off the bench. Terance Mann averaged 8.8 points and 3.4 rebounds, providing all-around solid play with a defensive mindset for the Clippers, and is on a $11.3 million expiring contract. Finally, PJ Tucker‘s playing days might be behind him, but he provides $11.5 million in cap relief as an expiring contract that they wouldn’t have with LaVine on the roster.
A Risky Deal With Big Rewards
The Bulls don’t need to put out a statement confirming themselves as a tanking roster or not if they trade LaVine away. They could still be a competitive team with a strong defensive ethos without LaVine, but they won’t necessarily be competing for the Playoffs. That applies even with LaVine given the incongruent roster around him in Chicago at the time. He’ll just take minutes away from the likes of Coby White, Josh Giddey, and Matas Buzelis, so he should find a new destination.
The Clippers hope a defense-first system is good enough to keep them competitive regardless of the injury status plaguing Kawhi Leonard. However, they have few offensive creators on their roster outside Harden, who isn’t as proficient a scorer anymore as he is a playmaker. Putting LaVine as an off-ball scorer next to him could lead to a highly effective backcourt.
This could be a bad deal on both sides, but the potential rewards are far too realistic to overcome. The Clippers add a scorer to replace the production George took with him while the Bulls add flexible contracts instead of paying an unhappy LaVine for three more seasons.
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