Ruled out, unlikely and could get desperate: The Zach LaVine trade market

The Zach LaVine trade drama with the Chicago Bulls is one of the league’s longest soap operas. 

It got somewhat nasty in the media, a confusing move by the Bulls, as their attempts to move LaVine were already stalled. Calling him out in the press is sure to make things worse. 

At this point, there isn’t a trade market for Zach LaVine. If he comes back and plays well, it’s possible the Bulls can move him at some point, but for now we can put the trade landscape for LaVine into three categories. 

The Zach LaVine trade market: You can rule these teams out completely 

Whether it’s because of finances, roster construction or culture, you can likely rule out all of these teams right away, which is nearly half the NBA. 

The Celtics, Knicks, Bucks and Cavs have no need for LaVine, same with the 76ers, who just added Paul George. You can say the same about the Mavericks, Timberwolves, Thunder, Grizzlies and Kings, who are set at LaVine’s position. 

The Pelicans are trying to shed payroll, not take more on, and LaVine is the anti-thesis of the kind of players the Pacers target. 

If the Bulls wanted to take on the only contract in the NBA worse than LaVine’s, I’m sure the Suns would offer up Bradley Beal, but even the Bulls front office isn't that inept. 

Rebuilding teams that would do it for a price 

All of these teams stink and probably will again next season. They are rebuilding and will be looking for ways to take on draft assets, so if the Bulls wanted to attach a few to LaVine, they could likely have a taker out of this group. 

But the Bulls are starting a rebuild themselves, and the last thing they want to do is give up future draft assets of which they have precious few considering they still owe a pick to the Spurs. 

Still highly unlikely, but these teams could get desperate 

The Rockets and Magic are up and coming teams trying to break into the playoffs. Both need shooting and could look to LaVine, but it’s unlikely unless they suffered injuries and got desperate. 

The Clippers, Lakers and Warriors are the old teams looking to make a last run and the three most connected to LaVine in rumors. A slow start could make any of them desperate for a change. 

The Heat and Nuggets are the teams that didn’t do anything to keep up in their respective conferences and might want to add to their core. The Nuggets rarely make big moves like this, but they are a team to watch. 

The Hawks, like the Bulls are stuck in no-man's land but it’s hard to see how they’d think LaVine is the way out, though you never know what they are up to. 

The trade market for LaVine is tiny if it exists at all and will take a team with injuries or one desperate to keep up for something to materialize for Chicago.