Chicago Bulls Insider Reveals Surprising Potential Zach LaVine Trade Spot

Hint: It's not the Lakers.

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The Chicago Bulls may be a great team on paper, but their big-three of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic may have reached its course. Zach LaVine's name has been increasingly mentioned in trade rumors throughout the season, and specifically to the Lakers.

However, one Chicago Bulls insider has some new potential landing spots for LaVine.

In an interview with NBA.com, longtime Bulls writer and insider Sam Smith revealed that he could see the Orlando Magic become a potential landing spot for Zach LaVine. Here is the exact excerpt from his interview.

"We were waiting to see who lost that series for the first of many speculated Zach destinations," Smith said. "I’d ruminated a few weeks back about maybe Mitchell because he has just one year left and then an opt out and that Cleveland isn’t exactly a free agent destination if you are not named LeBron or have him there already. Now that the Cavs if not for long have moved on—after a first round loss is when teams first panic because it’s usually an unsuccessful season—you assume they ride it out with Mitchell, or at least try. Especially since he basically was their entire offense. Which exposed the Magic even if they are following the model of the modern NBA with size, athleticism, though not quite enough shooting yet. Which they need. Zach could provide that, and Orlando showed they need a third scoring option. But also like with the Phoenix Suns they most need a point/facilitating guard. The Magic has a cart load of cap space and could absorb a lot of Zach’s contract, which I assume would be the Bulls dream scenario assuming moving Zach is the offseason priority, which is the common wisdom in most media reports. The issue the Bulls face, obviously, is it’s a risk at least for now for a team to take on three years of LaVine’s contract without having seen him play coming off surgery. I think Zach with his shooting and athletic style would fit with them and greatly elevate a team like Orlando, and I think they’d still have a chance to add that veteran point guard to run things a bit, a Mike Conley-lite type."

- Sam Smith

Smith covered the Bull for the Chicago Tribune from 1978-2008 and wrote "The Jordan Rules."

The Orlando Magic would certianly be an interesting trade spot for LaVine. It would make Orlando one of the most athletic and fun teams in the NBA, but how LaVine looks after season-ending foot surgery remains to be seen.