Getty Charles Barkley thinks the Bulls need to make some major changes.
NBA legend Charles Barkley has some advice for the 24-27 Chicago Bulls: Trade Zach LaVine.
Barkley, who spent 16 seasons playing in the league, has served as an analyst for TNT since 2000 after his retirement and he is never shy when it comes to sharing his opinion. After the Bulls’ 114-98 win over the Charlotte Hornets on February 2, Barkley encouraged the Bulls to shake up their roster.
“You need to move Zach LaVine,” Barkley said on “NBA on TNT’s” February 3 broadcast, via Daniel Greenberg. “They are not going anywhere. You got to start over. You can’t play to be in the 8th seed and the play-in.”
Technically, Chicago is currently in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, with the play-in tourney the team’s only realistic shot at a postseason berth.
Barkley Has Urged Bulls to Blow it Up Before
This isn’t the first time Barkley has urged the Bulls to make sweeping changes.
“You’re not gonna win a championship this year or the next couple of years. You’ve got some good players. You got to start the rebuild,” Barkley said on ESPN 1000s Waddle & Silvy Show in early December. Barkley also noted at the time that point guard Lonzo Ball’s injury has crippled the team in innumerable ways.”
“I think maybe if the Ball kid was healthy, it would be a different scenario,” Barkley said on ESPN 1000s Waddle & Silvy Show in early December. “That’s the only thing stopping me from blowing it up, to be honest with you – if the Ball kid could get healthy. But, man, it doesn’t look good at all, does it?”
A few months later and it still doesn’t look good for Ball, who will likely miss the rest of the season. So what does that mean for LaVine and the rest of Chicago’s roster?
Zach LaVine Has 4 Rumored Suitors Heading Into Trade Deadline
“Zach LaVine, the Bulls’ two-time All-Star who’s in the first season of a five-year, $215 million maximum contract, would have no shortage of suitors if Chicago decided to move the 27-year-old guard before next Thursday’s deadline,” Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports reported on February 2, before naming names.
“The Lakers, Heat, Knicks and Mavericks have consistently been mentioned by league personnel as holding motivations to land LaVine if the time does arrive. Portland also showed interest in signing LaVine last offseason, league sources told Yahoo Sports.”
Despite reported interest from numerous teams and NBA legends urging them to move on from players like LaVine, the Bulls appear unwilling to make any major moves prior to the NBA trade deadline on February 9. If Fischer’s report is true — and it’s likely that it is — trading LaVine is an option if the Bulls want to move him.
It’s looking more and more like the Bulls want to keep their Big Three (LaVine, DeMar Derozan and Nikola Vucevic) intact and ride out the year in the hopes Ball will be ready to go by the time next season rolls around. Of those three, Vucevic is the likeliest trade candidate, as he’s up for a new deal after the season. Stay tuned.