Last time we checked in on a potential trade of the Bulls’ Zach Lavine the market was described as lukewarm by league sources speaking to NBC Sports.
One team mentioned in trade rumors — almost out of reflex — is the Miami Heat, but they are not pursuing a trade for LaVine right now reports Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald.
There’s a logical reason for that — the Heat already have Tyler Herro in the off-guard scoring role and would have to trade him to land LaVine. While LaVine is a better player in that role than Herro, the Bulls’ star is also five years older and making $13 million more per season (and both are on the books for multiple years in the future). Is LaVine $13 million a season better than Herro? Not in the eyes of most observers.
LaVine is a bucket. He’s a two-time All-Star and Olympic gold medalist (Tokyo) averaging 21.3 points per game this season and is a career 38.2% shooter from 3. What scares teams off is LaVine’s contract: they would be on the hook for the remainder of the $40 million he makes this season plus $138 million guaranteed over the next three years. That’s more than teams are eager to shell out for a player not associated with winning at the NBA level and who doesn’t bring defense or much else to the table outside scoring.
That said, a lot of teams could use LaVine and the vibe around the league is he will get traded before the deadline. However, teams mentioned as interested now — Lakers, 76ers — also want to ask the Bulls about other players who might become available such as Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan. They want to know if the Bulls are doing a complete teardown. The reports out of Chicago to this point say no, this is a LaVine-only thing, but teams keep asking.
A LaVine trade probably happens before the trade deadline (and likely much closer to it), but not to Miami.
