3. Zach LaVine, Shooting Guard
One of the key pieces of the trade between the Timberwolves and the Chicago Bulls that saw star small forward Jimmy Butler sent to the Twin Cities also saw shooting guard Zach LaVine make his way to the Windy City. LaVine wouldn’t be the first trade candidate that these fans would like to see involved in a possible package, but he shouldn’t be considered untradeable.
So far this season, LaVine isn’t making the strides that a lot of Bulls fans anticipated him to. He’s still scoring at a mark well over 20 points per game. But he’s not finding the consistency down the stretch that the Bulls need him to. Hence the fact that the Bulls couldn’t close games that resulted in losses to subpar competition like the Knicks and Cavaliers.
LaVine is shooting below 44 percent from the field and around the same 37.5 percent clip from downtown that he had last season. But where LaVine could improve the most on offense in terms of his ability to get to the basket and effectively score is from the free-throw line. He’s only getting to the charity stripe 4.3 times per game, and shooting under 77 percent from the line in the process.
The assist-to-turnover ratio for LaVine so far this season is also the highest it’s been during his time in a Bulls uniform. There has to be some level of progress in the coming weeks for LaVine in his offensive numbers, but that should come sooner rather than later. If it does, LaVine will once again be a solid trade target and potential first-time All-Star selection.