Zach LaVine will have no shortage of suitors if the Chicago Bulls decide to put him on the trade market, and the Los Angeles Lakers will be one of the teams keen to acquire the All-Star.
The last couple of months has seen LaVine heavily linked to the Lakers. And this comes on the back of reports that the guard and the Bulls aren't necessarily seeing eye-to-eye. Couple this with NBA insiders dropping information about his potential move, and LaVine to LA becoming a possibility shouldn't really come as a surprise.
For starters, he has been a force for the Bulls amid all the purported locker room storm, and his rocky relationship with head coach Billy Donovan. At the time of writing, the 27-year-old averages 23.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists while shooting 47.0 from the field and 39.9% from downtown.
He is second behind DeMar DeRozan, who leads the scoring charts for Chicago, and was on the Lakers' radar. The forward and the Bulls center, Nikola Vucevic, was pegged as the Lakers' primary trade targets when the trade window opened.
However, the talks of sending Russell Westbrook and the two picks for the duo have been a topic of speculation, and there have been no concrete developments since. And after a good month of linking the two players to the Purple and Gold, LaVine is the next big name associated to play with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The latest development was all about the Lakers saving their future draft picks to land either LaVine or Washington Wizards' veteran Bradley Beal. With both players eligible to be traded after January 15, the LA front office will be keen to bag one of these stars to instantly bolster the franchise's chances of winning their second title in four years.
On the team front, the Bulls and Lakers are pretty much in the same boat, although if the play-in were today, the latter wouldn't even be in contention despite James' herculean efforts to get the team out of the rut they're in.
LaVine joining the Lakers will significantly boost their chances of winning a title, but that's not to say the move will be entirely fruitful.