Getty The Bulls could trade away Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
With the New York Knicks on a hot streak, it makes sense to find roster upgrades going forward to give the team a better chance at going on a deep playoff run.
Julius Randle, RJ Barrett and Jalen Brunson are all playing well, and that means the team should find a way to capitalize on the success in any way they can. With Evan Fournier, Derrick Rose and Cam Reddish hardly playing, all three of them seem like likely trade candidates.
With the Chicago Bulls going through their share of struggles, there’s a sense they could be trading away some of their core pieces, and that includes Zach LaVine. In the case of LaVine, he’s somebody the Knicks once coveted, but he signed a five-year, $215 million deal with the Bulls before this season began.
Despite that, there’s a chance he could still be moved, and in the event that happens it seems like the Knicks are considered to be the frontrunners.
LaVine to Knicks Has Best Odds
Between DeMar DeRozan, LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, LaVine seems to be the most unlikely to be moved because of his massive contract and the fact he just signed it.
He’s also only 27 years old, so he’s relatively young in the grand scheme of things, but he has started to deal with knee issues, which is never good for a high-flying athletic guard such as himself.
With that said, Sportsbetting.ag lists the Knicks as the favorites to land him if he were to be traded from the Bulls, followed closely by the Raptors and Heat. There’s no guarantee the Bulls will decide to trade him away, but it’s easy to see the Knicks being a good fit there.
With Fournier, Rose and Reddish all potential pieces to be traded, along with a bunch of first-round picks, the Knicks seemingly have what it takes to land a solid player. Rose returning to the Bulls would be a good story, but he likely wouldn’t result in a net positive for Chicago.
Would LaVine Get Moved?
Moving somebody who just signed a massive contract is something that seems to be very unlikely, but it’s not impossible.
An Eastern Conference executive speaking to Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney says LaVine being traded during the season isn’t happening.
“A full rebuild kind of thing, that is not going to happen this year, but they could get started on it,” the exec said. “They’re not going to trade away Zach LaVine during the season. They will have an easier time with moving on from DeMar DeRozan if that is where they go but even that, it is something they would wait until the summer to do, rather than try to pull off a move at the deadline.”
It’s the clear the Bulls will have to do something because they continue to slide further and further out of contention, a stunning fall for a team that was sitting as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference this time last season.
Only time will tell what’s planned for Chicago, but the Knicks seem like they are going to have the early edge on acquiring a star, but everyone has seen where that has gone for the Knicks in the past.