Chicago Bulls: ESPN tabs Zach LaVine as team’s most valuable asset
When March 25 arrives, the Chicago Bulls new front office regime of first-year executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley will get a chance to continue building this young and potent roster. March 25 is this year’s trade deadline, and the Bulls could be a major player as a buyer or a seller. It’s hard to tell how they will ultimately lean at this point in time.
What we do know about the Bulls’ potential moves at the trade deadline is that Karnisovas and Eversley could have a volatile situation on their hands. By all indications at the moment, first-year head coach Billy Donovan and this building Bulls team are headed in the right direction. But that could all change in the blink of an eye.
Despite winning three of their last four games, and two in a row heading into the weekend, the Bulls still sport a less than stellar record of 12-15. While they are very much within striking distance of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference right now, it is a low seed at that.
So if the Bulls do decide to make a big splash at the trade deadline, where are they likely to make that move?
Chicago Bulls most valuable trade assets this year
A piece from ESPN’s Bobby Marks from back on Feb. 17 outlined each of the 30 NBA team’s players to watch on the trade block and their most valuable assets (paid content). It was an interesting read for the Bulls portion of the list.
Marks mentioned two of the most valuable trade assets that the Bulls have on their hands entering the March 25 deadline are star shooting guard Zach LaVine and veteran forward Thaddeus Young. LaVine seemed like a shoe in to make this part of the list for the Bulls, according to Marks. But including Young brings up an interesting possibility.
Could Karnisovas and the Bulls still want to part ways with Young, despite his solid production off the bench this season?
Trading LaVine would seem like a more likely move from the Bulls at this point of the regular season than it would Young. That discussion does involve some sort of recency bias, though, since the Bulls trade rumors surrounding Young have largely died down of late.
Meanwhile, the trade discussions surrounding LaVine have done anything but slow down of late.
The potential first-time NBA All-Star selection LaVine is having another career year for the Bulls during the 2020-21 campaign. And his trade value looks to be skyrocketing at the same time.
While I am not a personal advocate for trading LaVine this year, the Bulls new front office regime should at least be able to get a really good return for him on the trade market. In fact, his trade value likely has never been higher than it is now.
LaVine has played in 27 games for the Bulls so far this season (starting in all of them), averaging around 36 minutes on the floor per game. And he’s averaged 28.5 points per game, 5.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.4 blocks. LaVine shot 52.0 percent from the field, 43.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 84.7 percent from the free-throw line.
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On the night of Feb. 19, LaVine and the Bulls will get another big test as they hit the road to take on the team with the top record in the East, the Philadelphia 76ers and superstar center Joel Embiid. A win over the Sixers heading into the weekend, and the Bulls will have triumphed in their third game in a row.