With all of the trade buzz surrounding DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, and Zach LaVine, chances are rising that one or more of the three will be gone by the trade deadline of February 5th, 2024. While many links have been made to Western Conference teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings, an Eastern Conference playoff contender has entered the mix. According to Shams Charania, Senior NBA Insider for The Athletic, the Philadelphia 76ers have “monitored” the Bulls’ All-Star nearing the trade deadline.
OG Anunoby or Zach LaVine To Philly
Chicago will be happy to hear that the 76ers have narrowed their search down to two stars in the Eastern Conference. Aiming for LaVine or Anunoby means there’s a rising chance LaVine could be dealt within the conference to a team the Bulls were victorious against earlier this week. Philadelphia has a haul of recently acquired assets and contracts from the James Harden trade with the Los Angeles Clippers, and could see many of those assets reallocated in a trade in the coming month.
Potential Trade For LaVine
As noted by several NBA Insiders recently, the most challenging part of any Zach LaVine trade will be his lucrative contract and matching it in the returning package. Luckily for the 76ers, they faced the same hurdle with Harden and have a comparable amount of salary fillers to send away in a potential trade. While it may not impress the fans in Chicago, as NBC Chicago’s K.C. Johnson alluded to yesterday, a deal for LaVine has the framework with the 76ers.
Chicago Bulls Receive: Marcus Morris Sr. ($17.1 million), Nicolas Batum ($11.7 million), Robert Covington ($11.7 million), 1st Round Draft Selection (2024), 1st Round Draft Selection (2026)
Philadelphia 76ers Receive: Zach LaVine ($40 million)
While this doesn’t jump off the page, the Bulls have almost nothing to lose by trading away their two-time All-Star, so any return is good. Currently 7-3 without LaVine and 5-13 with him in the lineup, it’s becoming apparent what the problem has been for Chicago for the last several years, especially in 2023. Grabbing a few aging role players and mainly the draft capital can help the Bulls make a playoff push this season with some defensive and three-point shooting wings and build the future in the draft.
Tobias Harris’s name has been thrown out in potential trade scenarios with his lucrative contract ending this summer. Still, as Charania also noted in his report this morning, the 76ers are aware of his value and “want to hold onto him.”
If this is the best Chicago can extract from Zach LaVine, do they accept this offer and boost Philadelphia’s championship aspirations with another All-Star caliber guard?
