Lakers Would Acquire UCLA Legend in Compelling Trade Proposal

Could the Los Angeles Lakers acquire former UCLA star Lonzo Ball from the Chicago Bulls before the NBA trade deadline?

Jan 23, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) walks around Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball (2) after missing a half court shot at the buzzer of the first quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

The Chicago Bulls have a pair of former UCLA stars that they may try to move by the NBA trade deadline: Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball.

While LaVine is obviously the bigger name of the two, it may actually be more likely for Ball to get dealt by Feb. 6.

Ball is on an expiring deal worth $21.4 million, making him a relatively easy salary to match. He also provides significant value as a defender and a facilitator, even if he isn't much of a scorer.

So, will the Bulls end up trading the UCLA product over the next week?

Stephen Noh of The Sporting News has proposed a trade in which Chicago would send Ball to the Los Angeles Lakers — where he began his NBA career,

In the deal, the Bulls would receive Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, three second-round draft picks and a future first-round pick swap. Chicago would also be shipping Torrey Craig to the Lakers in the package.

"Defense has been L.A.'s biggest issue — it has been stuck in the bottom third of the league for most of the year despite having an All-Defensive talent in Anthony Davis," Noh wrote. "That poor showing is because the Lakers don't have great perimeter defenders on their roster, they don't force many turnovers, they're sloppy in transition and they make very basic fundamental mistakes far too often. Ball fixes a lot of those problems."

Ball just missed two whole seasons due to knee injuries, but he returned this year and is averaging seven points, 3.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds over 21.1 minutes per game on 36.9/34.7/82.4 shooting splits.

Again, what the 27-year-old lacks in scoring prowess, he makes up for in intangibles and in other areas on the floor, so he would provide value to any contending team.

Los Angeles originally selected Ball with the second overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft. He spent the first two years of his career with the Lakers before being traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in a deal that sent the aforementioned Davis to Tinseltown.

Ball then signed a four-year, $80 million contract with the Bulls during the summer of 2022, but injuries have completely derailed his stay in the Windy City.

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