Rival West Executive Wants Lakers to Trade for East All-Star

Would this move make any sense for Los Angeles?

Jan 2, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) and Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine (8) go for a rebound during the second half at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers head into the 2024-25 NBA season with virtually the same roster that won a good-not-great 47 games got bounced out of the first round of the 2024 playoffs, just a year older.

Can bringing in JJ Redick, L.A.'s third head coach in the last four years, and adding rookie guards Dalton Knecht and Bronny James to the mix really help the Lakers return to the top of the Western Conference Finals heap?

Probably not.

Los Angeles is small and fairly unathletic in its frontcourt, beyond All-NBA center/power forward Anthony Davis. The team's perimeter defense is something of a major question mark, as its top two defenders on the wing, forward Jarred Vanderbilt and point guard Gabe Vincent, missed much of 2023-24 with injuries.

But one rival Western Conference executive wants Los Angeles to add a player who gives them none of that.

During a recent conversation with Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times, the executive advocated for a strange trade.

“I’d call Chicago and make a move for Zach Lavine," the executive recommended to Woike.

The 6-foot-5 Chicago Bulls shooting guard, 29, won't be any help defensively or in the frontcourt. But the UCLA product, formerly a two-time All-Star with Chicago, but he's still an excellent volume scorer. Last year, LaVine was hampered by a right foot injury that ultimately required surgery.

Across just 25 games (23 starts) last year on the 39-43 Bulls, LaVine averaged 19.5 points while slashing .452/.349/.854 (that 34.9 percent 3-point rate arrived on 6.8 triple tries a night), 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 0.8 steals a night.

The executive believes that the Lakers would not need to sacrifice future draft equity (headlined by two movable future first round picks) to acquire LaVine, who'll be under contract for $138 million through the 2026-27 season.

Woike notes that any deal would likely need to include the contracts of starting point guard D'Angelo Russell, starting combo forward Rui Hachimura, and the contract of either Vanderbilt or Vincent.

Per the executive, the Lakers are just not good enough to win it all in 2025. LaVine's 3-point shooting, ball handling and scoring acumen would help Los Angeles' offense during the regular season, if he can actually stay healthy. Should the Lakers eventually want to trade to acquire a higher-level star player, LaVine's contract could help for salary-matching purposes.

Woike does not believe that Los Angeles' own front office executives seem particularly interested in LaVine long-term. But as a stop-gap building block who could at least improve the Lakers' scoring beyond All-NBA stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, both of whom are on the wrong side of 30, he could help.

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