Chicago Bulls trade Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic in 3-way deal
There are teams in both conferences that haven’t done enough to keep up with the frontrunners and may see Zach LaVine as a wildcard plan.
At his best, he’s giving you a dynamic scorer who is a high-volume 3-point shooter that hits a high percentage. He’s not a great defender, but can be absorbed into a good team system.
The Warriors fit the bill of a team that could take a swing with LaVine, as they need to do something to keep up in the loaded Western Conference and have a big hole to fill with the departure of Klay Thompson.
Greg Swartz at Bleacher Report recently proposed this 3-way trade that folds in the New Orleans Pelicans and their desire to trade Brandon Ingram and land a center in the process:
It makes some sense for Golden State, as LaVine could thrive with Stephen Curry the same way Thompson did. Wiggins hasn’t been good the last two seasons anyway and the Warriors could go back to trying to shoot teams out of the gym with Curry, Buddy Hield and LaVine.
I’m not as sure about the Pelicans, as they can probably do better than Nikola Vucevic, though they would be getting draft capital and some nice role players in Kevon Looney and Gary Payton II.
If they are going to lose Ingram anyway then adding to their depth wouldn’t be the worst thing.
But what about the Chicago Bulls? Is this a deal they would make?