Bulls can take advantage if the Lakers strike out

There has been widespread speculation that the Chicago Bulls will shop Zach LaVine this summer. 

It will take a desperate team to take on the three years remaining on LaVine’s deal, but the good news for the Bulls is that there is no shortage of them. 

Teams with cap space like the Pistons or Magic could be interested in LaVine, as Detroit needs to do something to improve and the Magic need outside shooting. 

Philadelphia will have cap space and will be looking for a third star and the Cavaliers, Hawks and Hornets could all be in the mix depending which direction they decide to go. 

But there may be no team more desperate to make a splash than the Los Angeles Lakers, who are trying to maximize the end of the LeBron era by adding more star power around him and AD. 

According to Dan Woike of the LA Times, the Lakers have been attached to a number of players in possible trades, including Zach LaVine: 

"Other players commonly mentioned as potential trade targets this offseason include New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram, Atlanta’s Trae Young and DeJounte Murray and Chicago’s Zach LaVine — none seriously linked to the Lakers at the combine. "

The Lakers essentially have three draft picks and young players on lower contracts to deal, which makes it questionable if they even have enough to land any of the players listed there other than LaVine. 

Chicago Bulls rumors: Hoping the Lakers strike out 

If the Lakers strike out on their first choices, they could inquire about LaVine. There will be other teams potentially after Ingram, Young and Murray that can offer more for them in a trade than LA.

There have been proposed trades of Zach LaVine to the Lakers, but making the contracts work is problematic, as the Lakers can’t take back any extra money as a tax team. 

Making a trade without D’Angelo Russell is tough, and he’s likely to opt out of his final year in search of a bigger payday anyway. He has a player option for next season, so the Lakers have no control over what he does. 

Would they include Rui Hachimura instead? A combination of Hachimura, Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt gets you very close to equal salary. 

The Lakers may view this as too much to give up for LaVine given his injury history and the Bulls would be taking back plenty of money that extends beyond this year, though they would be getting some depth and a pretty good player in Hachimura. 

If the Lakers are desperate enough, the Bulls may be able to squeeze a bit more out of them for LaVine, but there are real questions about whether LA has anything that the Bulls want.