Getty Image / Andrew Lahodynskyj
In the NBA right now, most of the trade chatter has been centering around Damian Lillard.
He has finally decided to move on from the Portland Trail Blazers after they were unable to build a contender around him.
However, he isn’t the only star that could still be on the move this summer.
The Chicago Bulls have a couple of stars that could potentially be trade targets for teams around the league after the Bulls struggled last season.
One of those stars is Zach LaVine, who averaged 24.8 points per game for the Bulls last season.
A recent report has indicated that LaVine is actually receiving interest from a couple of teams right now.
According to NBC Sports Chicago’s KC Johnson, the Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers have had trade talks with the Bulls centering around LaVine.
On Zach LaVine and the trade speculation that continues to surround him.
For @NBCSChicago: https://t.co/1XKWU1Lnxc
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) July 7, 2023
“The LaVine trade chatter isn’t going away. In fact, league sources said that LaVine has landed in preliminary conversations with both the Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers, who are working with James Harden and Damian Lillard, respectively, to find them new homes.”
The Blazers’ interest doesn’t seem to make too much sense. They seemingly haven’t been interested in trading Damian Lillard to get Tyler Herro, who is younger and cheaper than LaVine, which may make him a better fit for a Blazers team that isn’t contending right now.
They also already have Anfernee Simons at shooting guard, who is just 24 and also much cheaper than LaVine.
The 76ers are a much more interesting potential landing spot for the Bulls star. With James Harden on his way out, the 6ers have an opening at one of their guard spots.
A move for LaVine would immediately replace Harden’s scoring and would extend the 6ers’ window to compete. At 28 years old, LaVine is actually younger than Joel Embiid.
His addition would move Tyrese Maxey over to point guard, which would be something new for the 76ers.
The 76ers have to figure something out to keep up with the top teams in the league with Harden leaving and LaVine could be the best answer.
There should also be some other teams interested in the Bulls shooting guard right now with title contention not really on the cards in Chicago in the near future.
The Knicks could use an upgrade at shooting guard and another scorer. Maybe the Nets could even take a look since they don’t own their draft picks, which gives them an incentive to try to win right now and they already have some solid pieces on their roster.
While they may not be the only teams who end up inquiring about Zach LaVine this offseason, it looks like the Portland Trail Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers could be the first two to try and get a deal done.