The Chicago Bulls could reportedly have a viable trade destination for shooting guard Zach LaVine with the Philadelphia 76ers in the near future.
Any and all rumors leading up to the start of the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery, on the night of Nov. 18, pertaining to the Chicago Bulls should be taken with a grain of salt up to this point. There’s a ton of speculation pertaining to what newly hired executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley will do with their fourth overall pick in the draft lottery for the Bulls on this night.
The Bulls hold the fourth overall pick in the 2020 draft lottery, and the original Memphis Grizzlies 44th overall pick in the second round. That gives Karnisovas and Eversley a good amount of wiggle room to work out a draft night trade, if they feel that is the best move for the Bulls heading into the fourth year of the rebuild.
An interesting trade possibility that emerged of late for the Bulls involved finding a potential destination (likely a playoff contender) for the 6-foot-6 25-year-old standout shooting guard Zach LaVine. A report on the Twitter timeline of Kyle Neubeck on the afternoon of Nov. 18 discussed the rumor of LaVine going to the Philadelphia 76ers through a past connection with Eversley.
With some LaVine rumors already out there today, quick note — Bulls GM Marc Eversley was a big advocate in the Sixers' draft room for Matisse Thybulle. Scouted him for at least a couple of years.
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) November 18, 2020
No indication Philly is making him available, but keep your eye on it.
Apparently a potential trade between the Sixers and Bulls could hypothetically see Eversley bring up the former Washington Huskies defensive standout shooting guard/wing Matisse Thybulle. It sounds like Eversley really liked Thybulle throughout the draft scouting process last year. Keep in mind, though, that Neubeck mentioned that there’s “no indication Philly is making him available, but keep your eye on it”.
Bradley Beal and Zach LaVine have been hot names around the league, according to league sources. Philadelphia has been one among many, but the Wizards and Bulls have rebuffed overtures.
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) November 18, 2020
Vince Goodwill reported on his Twitter timeline on the morning of Nov. 18 that two “hot names around the league” are LaVine and the Washington Wizards star shooting guard Bradley Beal. A piece from Hoops Rumors summed up Philly’s pursuit of the likes of LaVine and Beal as them “kicking the tires” on the idea.
It does sound like LaVine going to the Sixers could certainly be a possibility, especially given all of the front office and coaching staff changes both in the Windy City and Philly, but not a huge one. Philly does have a lot of draft capital at their disposal this year and a number of intriguing trade chips (i.e. Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons, and Joel Embiid).
The Bulls finished up the shortened 2019-20 regular season, under the direction of former head coach Jim Boylen, with a record of 22-43 (good for 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings). They’ve since hired the likes of former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan to replace Boylen heading into the fourth year of the rebuild, along with Karnisovas and Eversley as the lead voices in the front office.