Should Lakers Consider Trading for Eastern Conference All-Stars?

They are now officially distressed assets.

February 20, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Team LeBron forward LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers (6) shoots the basketball against Team Durant guard/forward Zach Lavine of the Chicago Bulls (8) and Team Durant center Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers (21) during the fourth quarter in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

A pair of former Chicago Bulls All-Stars are now officially distressed assets.

Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Bulls team president Arturas Karnisovas continues to push for a trade to offload the $138 million over three years owed two-time ex-All-Star shooting guard Zach LaVine and the $41 million over two years the team is supposed to spend on former two-time All-Star center Nikola Vucevic. LaVine has a $49 million player option on his deal for the 2026-27 season.

As Cowley observes, Chicago currently has a fairly guard-heavy roster at present, which includes three ball-dominant guards in LaVine, Coby White, and newly-acquired point guard Josh Giddey. Defense-first guards Ayo Dosunmu and Jevon Carter seemm likely to be reserves. Per Cowley, 3-and-D guard Lonzo Ball, who hasn't played in two-and-a-half years, could even be healthy enough make an appearance on the Bulls' bench this season. Power forward Patrick Williams, recently inked to an unnecessarily generous five-year, $90 million deal in free agency, would ostensibly start in Chicago's frontcourt alongside Vucevic were he to stick around.

Rookie forward Matas Buzelis, selected with the No. 11 pick from the now-defunct G League Ignite, and little-used swingman Dalen Terry will presumably also log rotation minutes off the bench should the roster remain as-is.

Would either of these two players be an intriguing fit for Los Angeles? L.A. could obviously benefit from LaVine's sharpshooting, but his defensive issues on the perimeter, his lengthy injury history, and his astronomical contract could give Lakers general manager/team president Rob Pelinka pause.

Last year, the 29-year-old LaVine appeared in just 25 games for Chicago, averaging 19.5 points on a .452/.349/.854 slash line, 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 0.8 steals per bout. The team performed notably better in his absence, with White and now-departed DeMar DeRozan taking on all major playmaking duties.

Vucevic used to be a respectable jump shooter, but his acumen on that end of the floor fell off last season. Across 76 games (74 starts) for the 39-43 Bulls last year, the 33-year-old averaged 18.0 points on .484/.294/.822 shooting splits (that 29.4 percent 3-point conversion rate arrived on 4.1 triple tries a night), 10.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 0.8 blocks and 0.7 steals a night. He is slow and plodding and lacks much verticality, making him a major defensive sieve. He would be a poor fit on a Lakers team that could use a rim-rolling backup for All-Star center Anthony Davis.

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