NBA Trade Deadline: If Mavs Are Out On Iguodala and Covington, Can They Get In On Bulls Zach LaVine?

NBA Trade Deadline: By adding a dynamic scorer in Zach LaVine, Dallas could take a lot of pressure off of their young ‘do-it-all’ star Luka Doncic.

This time of year, tidbits of information — or, well ... ‘rumors’ — start surfacing about what the Dallas Mavericks might have planned when it comes to their NBA trade deadline plans. Sometimes, that information can be accurate, like last season when we heard rumors about the Sacramento Kings being interested in Harrison Barnes over a month in advance. Sometimes, nobody but the people in the Mavs front office themselves know exactly what could be on the table, as we saw when the Kristaps Porzingis trade pretty much came out of thin air.

For example, at one point last season, we asked Mavs owner Mark Cuban about a rumor stating that Dallas was interested in trading for Otto Porter Jr., to which he quickly shot down and added, “If you hear anything in the media about the Mavs, it’s never true.”

That's not wholly true (trust us on that), but the point is made. There are times when "tight-lipped'' is what the Mavs front office is wishing for. And still ... DBcom reported on Dallas' long-standing interest on Andre Iguodala, and now Marc Stein is updating the info there and tamping that one down. (Along with tamping down a Mavs connection to Minnesota's Robert Covington.) 

The Mavericks still seek a wing upgrade after the acquisition of big man Willie Cauley-Stein -- but league sources say Dallas has maintained its reluctance to join the Andre Iguodala trade chase (as reported here in December) and is also not actively bidding on Robert Covington

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 3, 2020

So, with the Thursday trade deadline just days away, we're brainstorming on the Mavs’ needs and surveying the NBA landscape to see what fits and what doesn’t. And then the idea hit — what if the self-described "always-opportunistic'' Mavs called the Chicago Bulls about trading for high-flying shooting guard Zach LaVine?

Everything we think we know about the Mavs deadline plans to this point has us believing that they’re looking for more of a defensive-minded wing, but couldn’t the case be made for adding a super-athletic, dynamic-scoring backcourt player to help take some pressure off of second-year star and MVP candidate Luka Doncic?

On the season, LaVine has been playing like an All-Star, despite not being voted in. He’s averaging 25 points, five rebounds and four assists on 44-percent shooting from the field and 38-percent from three on nearly eight attempts per game. And despite not being a great defender on a struggling Bulls team, LaVine ranks eighth in the league in clutch scoring, which is something the Mavs could definitely benefit from, given some of their lackluster finishes in crunch-time this season. 

Being that LaVine is putting up those kinds of numbers while making essentially the same yearly amount of money as Tim Hardaway Jr. (who has been great in his own right this season as well), you may be wondering why Chicago would want to move on from him right now, or how Dallas could even get in on something like this. For example, an excerpt from the Chicago Sun-Times back at the very end of November gives us at least a feel for what the LaVine situation is like with the Bulls right now.

As far as the players, no one looks like he needs a change of scenery more than Lauri Markkanen. According to a source, however, he is still deemed all but untouchable. 

That leaves the next likely candidate — Zach LaVine — and having to admit that the rebuild is not as far along as first thought. 

The combo guard is guaranteed $19.5 million each season through 2021-22, which is not a bad price tag for a player who should be the third option on a playoff team. The Bulls have rookie Coby White also playing that combo-guard position off the bench, and maybe it’s time to unleash the North Carolina product as a starter. 

That means trading LaVine for an expiring contract such as Reggie Jackson’s and trying to hit it big in the draft lottery. This isn’t what Bulls fans want to hear or deserve. But maybe it’s time to look at White and second-year big man Wendell Carter Jr. as the foundation pieces along with whomever they draft in 2020.

Obviously, that is just one writer’s opinion. But now Zach Lowe is suggesting the Bulls would take offers on starting guards Kris Dunn and LaVine. If there's smoke ...

Adding a "Third best player on a playoff team’ and ‘trading for an expiring contract’ definitely fits what could end up being a great opportunity for the Mavs. After already having one of the most explosive offenses in league history, the idea of a healthy trio of Doncic, Porzingis, and LaVine would do some damage in the Western Conference playoffs this year.

Could an offer consisting of Courtney Lee’s expiring contract, one of the Mavs young players, and the Warriors’ 2020 second-round pick be enough to get a conversation started? Only the Bulls front office can answer that, but we believe it could get the Mavs a seat at the table.