NBA Betting Odds: Zach LaVine Trade Make Sense for Mavs?

The Dallas Mavericks are in the NBA betting odds mix for a Zach LaVine trade, but does the Chicago Bulls star still make sense for them?

Dalton Trigg | Sep 20, 2023

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Dallas Mavericks

Amid all the offseason trade rumors that were floating around the NBA, the Chicago Bulls somehow avoided most of the drama, despite likely having some tough decisions coming up in the near future.

The Bulls have been underwhelming for the last two seasons, and it all started when Lonzo Ball went down with a knee injury that he still hasn’t recovered from. Some of their core pieces aren’t getting any younger either, as DeMar DeRozan turned 34 years old this summer, and Nikola Vucevic will turn 33 as the new season begins in late October.

If the Bulls eventually decide to blow it up and start from scratch, that process could be started by moving on from Zach LaVine. The 28-year-old star averages 25 points per game while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field, and he likely represents Chicago’s best chance at collecting significant rebuilding assets in a trade.

Zach LaVine drains a 3-pointer in the Chicago Bulls’ win over the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 10, 2022 / David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

According to BetOnline.ag, the Dallas Mavericks have the sixth-best odds of being LaVine’s next team if he doesn’t stay with the Bulls. Here are the top-10 betting odds: Portland Trail Blazers (+200), Philadelphia 76ers (+300), Miami Heat (+400), New York Knicks (+500), Brooklyn Nets (+700), Dallas Mavericks (+800), Atlanta Hawks (+1200), Los Angeles Lakers (+1400), Denver Nuggets (+1600), Golden State Warriors (+1600).

A year ago, the idea of LaVine potentially joining forces with Luka Doncic was likely more exciting than it is now. The Mavs now have Kyrie Irving, and as offensively gifted as a trio of Doncic, LaVine and Irving would be, the lack of perimeter defense is what makes this idea less realistic this time around.

The next star-level player the Mavs trade for — assuming they aren’t content building in-house with the young pieces they acquired this summer — needs to be an all-around star. Count us in for monitoring Giannis Antetokounmpo’s situation with the Milwaukee Bucks over the next nine months.

Published Sep 20, 2023

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.