All Lakers Expert Predictions For LA-Bulls Bout

An up-close-and-personal look at some possible future Lakers.

Tonight, your 22-23 Los Angeles Lakers will get to scout some prospective Purple and Gold additions in person at Crypto.com Arena, when the 21-24 Chicago Bulls will pay them a visit.

The Lakers, who boast a stellar 16-8 home record (and a concerning 6-15 road record, but that's another conversation) as of this writing, are currently mild favorites to win, although the status of All-NBA forward LeBron James remains somewhat up in the air.

We're here to answer all your burning questions ahead of the clash.

Will Los Angeles win/cover the spread?

Per The Action Network, LA is currently a -4.5 point favorite against Chicago. Per a recent NBA injury report, both the club's two All-Stars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, are questionable to suit up. Obviously if they can't play, this is a competent-enough Bulls club that it should be able to steal a road injury. 

More realistically, I assume Davis will at least play, and his availability against a fairly lackluster Bulls frontline (Nikola Vucevic and his backup, ex-Laker Andre Drummond, aren't going to be able to contain The Brow in the post), along with D'Angelo Russell's continued scoring hot streak, should be enough to help LA seal the W. The Bulls are without forward Torrey Craig, perennially hurt ex-Laker Lonzo Ball (who has now not played for two full calendar years), and All-Star shooting guard Zach LaVine, who has been linked as a possible trade target for LA all season. 

I think the Lakers will win, but I don't trust them to cover.

Which Bulls should Lakers fans be most heartily scouting?

Ex-Lakers champ Alex Caruso, USC products Vucevic and DeMar DeRozan, and UCLA alum LaVine all have serious Los Angeles ties. Caruso, DeRozan and LaVine have been consistently connected to the club all year (and, heck, even last season), while even the aforementioned Drummond has recently been floated as a possible trade candidate. LaVine is hurt, so unfortunately he's out, but  Caruso and DeRozan make the most sense as trade fits anyway. 

DeRozan is on an expiring contract, so if he doesn't work out, LA can always let the Compton native walk in free agency, but the 34-year-old would give the Lakers the kind of offensive juice their No. 22-ranked offense could desperately use as a still-elite creator, midrange and foul line maestro, and clutch scorer. Caruso, a 2023 All-Defensive Team honoree, is exactly the kind of versatile wing defender the Lakers need. It would cost the club at least its one tradable first round draft pick (in 2029 or '30), and perhaps one of its four seconds or its four first round pick swaps, plus the contracts of power forward Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves or D'Angelo Russell, to add these guys in tandem, which honestly would make the most sense to yours truly.

How will Darvin Ham try to contain Coby White?

Somehow the former North Carolina lottery pick has morphed into Chicago's clear best player this season. An oversized (6'5"!), score-first point guard, White's leveling up has injected some fun and unpredictability into what had looked like a lost season for the Bulls. He's a borderline All-Star this year. Reaves may get first dibs on White, but one can reasonably expect Ham to throw various different looks at White, with key perimeter defenders Jarred Vanderbilt and Taurean Prince making the most sense.