Chicago Bulls: 3 most valuable trade chips ahead of 2021 deadline
1) Chicago Bulls valuable trade chips ahead of deadline
Zach LaVine, Shooting Guard
The player that is still the hottest name on the trade market for the Bulls is the 25-year-old former UCLA Bruin and the star shooting guard LaVine. This 6-foot-6 uber-athletic scoring guard for the Bulls is putting together yet another career year in the NBA. Now more than five years into his building NBA career, LaVine is really taking his game to a new level.
The way that LaVine is playing right now for the Bulls shows that he is well deserving of his first career NBA All-Star nod. Whether he gets to that point is largely dependent on if the Bulls remain in playoff contention in the Eastern Conference as this season moves along.
So far this season, LaVine has started in all 20 games he’s played in for the Bulls, averaging around 36 minutes on the floor per game. And he’s averaged 26.5 points per game, 5.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.6 blocks. LaVine shot 50.8 percent from the field, 40.1 percent from beyond the arc, and 88.6 percent from the free-throw line.
That all has amounted to a career-best 2.8 box plus/minus rating, 0.9 value over replacement player rating, .135 win shares per 48 minutes, 2.0 total win shares, 64.6 true shooting percentage, 114 offensive rating/113 defensive rating, and a 21.0 player efficiency rating.
The market for LaVine would likely be really strong if Karnisovas and Eversley were to legitimately shop him when we move closer to the trade deadline. But I’m not a personal advocate for trading LaVine with the way he’s playing of late, and with his team friendly contract. He would just be a really valuable commodity on the open market this year.