UCLA Basketball: Expert Expects Former Bruins Wing To Be Trade Target This Year

Will the price be right for his incumbent team?

Though two-time Chicago Bulls All-Star shooting guard Zach LaVine may be one of the league's most efficient three-level scorers, his defensive liabilities, his pricey contract, and his team's lackluster future have made him one of the low-key sneaky-appetizing trade candidates in the NBA.

LaVine, 28, was a one-and-done standout while a sixth man at UCLA, where he was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. He was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 13th pick in the 2014 draft, and was flipped to the Bulls in 2017.

Although the young swingman has been the subject of trade chatter since the months leading up to the 2022-23 trade deadline, he has taken a back seat this summer to starrier names like Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard and Philadelphia 76ers point guard James Harden.

Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times believes that, by the time the 2023-24 season starts in October, LaVine's name will be bandied about once again.

Per Cowley, rival teams felt that Chicago team president Arturas Karnisovas and his front office were legitimately engaging in potential trade conversations over the offseason.

If the Bulls don't begin their 2023-24 campaign well (and they're not that good, so they most likely won't), Cowley believes Karnisovas will be more amenable to moving on from LaVine, a talented-if-flawed pro.