Chicago Bulls: Let’s stop discussing ridiculous Zach LaVine trade rumors

With the Lakers finally landing Anthony Davis, could the Chicago Bulls stop undervaluing Zach LaVine on the trade market?

There was a recent trade rumor that emerged for the Chicago Bulls that all chips are on the table for a potential draft night deal with every player but center Wendell Carter Jr. and power forward Lauri Markkanen. That list would also seem to include the Bulls rising star shooting guard Zach LaVine and former Washington Wizards small forward Otto Porter Jr. Those four aforementioned pieces for the Bulls could be the best parts of the rotation this coming regular season.

Yet, of those four pieces there’s one that sticks out as getting the wrong end of the rumors right now. LaVine was the leading scorer and likely the most valuable Bull last season. He posted career highs in most major stat and advanced analytical category, including more than 23.0 points per game.

But here’s the qualm with trading LaVine for the Bulls, there is a right way to do this. Among all the rising star guards in the NBA this year, LaVine is one of the most athletic and on one of the most favorable contracts. He should clearly be commanding a good return with the Bulls possibly shopping him around this summer.

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune “clearly believes” that the Bulls want to jump into a multi-team deal that could also include teams like the New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Lakers, and New York Knicks. That deal would likely be for the Pelicans superstar big man Anthony Davis, if he’s sent to either the Lakers or Knicks.

The rage that took over the Bulls media world of late is the idea of getting LaVine involved in a potential three-team deal that involves the Lakers and AD. NBC Sports Chicago had an entire mailbag segment surrounding the potential framework of a deal that would send LaVine to the Lakers for a return that could include young point guard Lonzo Ball.

Zach Lowe of ESPN suggested that the Pelicans could use a guard like LaVine from the Bulls on that AD deal that would bring Lonzo and the fourth overall pick to the Windy City. The fact that there’s legit social media uproar surrounding this trade is a very worrying sign with where John Paxson and Gar Forman are at on the market at the moment.

All in all, nothing makes sense for the Bulls about sending LaVine to the Lakers if it involves also shipping out the No. 7 overall pick. The Bulls would essentially be sending out LaVine for a draft pick that should either give them Vanderbilt point guard Darius Garland or Texas Tech wing Jarrett Culver.

Is it worth it for the Bulls to send out LaVine and the seventh pick to the Lakers in a three-team deal also involving the Pelicans to get AD to join LeBron James? The answer to that should be absolutely not. It is nowhere close to a fair shift for the Bulls to get the fourth pick and Lonzo for LaVine and the seventh pick. But with the Lakers recently getting AD in a pure deal with just the Pels, this rumor should be buried.