Chicago Bulls: 3 Zach LaVine trades with the Knicks

3) Chicago Bulls trades with the Knicks for LaVine

Getting a deal done between the Bulls and Knicks, involving a player like LaVine (with his annual salary just shy of $20 million) won’t be easy. That is unless the Knicks through in some future draft capital into the trade talks. The Bulls likely don’t see that many player assets on the Knicks side that are all that appealing at this point in time.

The exception to that could be the former Duke Blue Devils shooting guard/small forward and the Knicks 2019 draft lottery pick RJ Barrett. The 6-foot-6 and 215 pound Toronto, Canada, native is still just 20 years old and is showing a lot of growth in his game in his second year in the NBA. Barrett would be included in this deal from the Knicks alongside the likes of small forward Kevin Knox and defensive standout point guard Frank Ntilikina.

In return, the Bulls also send off the underused center Luke Kornet back to the Knicks. For the first two years of his NBA career, the former Vanderbilt Commodores big man Kornet played for the Knicks. And Kornet seemed to be a better fit with the Bulls last season, when former head coach Jim Boylen was at the helm.

All in all, this might still be a tough sell to Bulls fans. Barrett is a quality player to get. But he could clog up the wing rotation, with the team also boasting other key players at the position such as rookie forward Patrick Williams and OPJ. Knox would serve a lot of value off the bench for this rotation playing at the three or the four, but he could bring the same depth clogging problem that Barrett does on the wing.

At least Ntilikina could bring a much needed defensive boost for this Bulls backcourt rotation that is struggling in that regard right now.