Any Bulls rumors swirling around the star shooting guard and first-time All-Star Zach LaVine are pretty difficult to take seriously right now. But they keep coming around involving one potential suitor next season, the Boston Celtics. Chicago’s front office likely doesn’t want to even ponder a LaVine trade right now.
This core looks pretty good in the projected starting unit heading into next season. The Bulls look to have a starting five that consists of Lonzo Ball at the one, LaVine at the two, some combination of Patrick Williams and DeMar DeRozan at the three and four, and Nikola Vucevic at the five.
Why mess with the the make up of that starting five when the front office put in so much work to form it together since the trade deadline last season?
Bulls rumors on Celtics pursuing Zach LaVine and Bradley Beal from the Wizards
Yet, that hasn’t stopped the speculation from arriving with a team like the Celtics that looks to want to at least consider the idea of pursuing LaVine in the trade market next season. According to a report from MassLive this week, the Celtics are considering LaVine as an option on the trade block or in free agency if the Bulls don’t hand him a lofty contract extension by next offseason.
But this report, among a few others, have mentioned that the Celtics first plan is likely to go after the Washington Wizards three-time All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal. Since LaVine and Beal are pretty similar players, it would make sense that the Celtics would consider this type of hierarchy.
Beal and LaVine are set to probably highlight trade speculation among star guards in the Eastern Conference all throughout next season. While it doesn’t make much sense for the Bulls to try and trade LaVine right now, it hasn’t stopped other teams and the media from having these rumors spill out.
Nonetheless, it is worth watching if there is any movement on the trade market with Beal in the next six or eight months. If there is a lofty asking price for Beal, that could make negotiations that much more difficult for the Bulls with LaVine.
The LaVine rumor mill just keeps circling around the Bulls heading into Training Camp and the preseason. And with that, LaVine and the Bulls are less than two weeks away from the start of Training Camp. The start of the preseason slate is also just a few weeks away, with tip-off set for Oct. 5 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.