Chicago Bulls: 3 Zach LaVine trades with the Knicks

2) Chicago Bulls trades with the Knicks for LaVine

Once again, what makes getting a deal done that sends LaVine to the Knicks without including a draft pick so difficult is the fact that salary matching with quality assets getting exchanged is really hard to configure. The Knicks are a young team that has a lot of trade restrictions that also don’t expire until later this month.

Maybe the idea of getting a breakthrough power forward like Julius Randle could appeal to the Bulls new front office regime, though. Randle is only on a one-year contract (worth around the same annual salary that LaVine is getting), but he is having an All-Star caliber season in a much higher usage role under the direction of first-year head coach Tom Thibodeau.

Randle and LaVine have registered roughly the same box plus/minus rating and player efficiency rating so far this season. And both were solid for their respective teams in the first meeting between the Bulls and Knicks this season, which transpired earlier this week. It will be interesting to see how the two square off on the night of Feb. 3, in the second of two consecutive meetings between the two teams.

Moreover, the Bulls do also get a very quality piece in this particular trade deal, acquiring the standout athletic big man Mitchell Robinson. The problem that the Bulls are getting at times in terms of protecting the rim and hitting the offensive glass could be solved immediately by landing Robinson.

The Bulls do also wind up shipping off third-year small forward Chandler Hutchison to the Knicks in this trade deal, so he can get a much needed change of scenery.