Every season, there is a player that becomes disgruntled over the course of the year out of nowhere. Sometimes teams and players squash it and move, but most often, it leads to a player being traded. With the Chicago Bulls faltering this season and looking unlikely to compete, the tensions in the team are flaring.
Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan’s relationship has worsened and many expect the Bulls to either start rebuilding again or LaVine to demand a trade. He’s already been linked to teams like the New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks, but NBA executives believe LaVine is only interested in joining the Los Angeles Lakers and returning to the town he went to college in.
Execs believe Zach LaVine is trying to force his way to LA
“LaVine wants to go to the Lakers, that has been pretty clear for a while now. The agents want him to be in Los Angeles, he is a UCLA guy and they did some rattling about his contract last offseason”
(Via @SeanDeveney) pic.twitter.com/WHzDBD6txK
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) December 21, 2022
LaVine is an ex-UCLA player and has been linked to the Lakers before. Will Rob Pelinka try and use his trusty ‘Russell Westbrook and two first-round picks’ package on LaVine and another one of the Bulls’ rotational players or is this going to be a non-story?
Will Zach Lavine Become A Laker?
It is highly unlikely. LaVine is in the first year of his contract extension and is locked up for another 4 seasons. He won’t have much control over his destination unless he wants to ruin his professional reputation and sit out games. Kevin Durant couldn’t force a trade with 4 years left, so it’ll be extremely unlikely for LaVine to do the same.
The Bulls do have reason to trade Zach away. Acquiring Russ allows them to take a lot of money off their books at the end of the season and have the room to either acquire new players or rebuild with a young core. It’ll be tough for this to be the trade that pries LaVine away from the Bulls but never say never in the NBA.
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