Ahead of the New York Knicks’ win over the Hawks on Wednesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said that the team will “be watching” the Bulls to see if they’ll make Zach LaVine available. Chicago is off to a 10-14 start and sits below New York at No. 12 in the East.
After not trading for Donovan Mitchell over the summer, the Knicks are still waiting to bring a star to New York. LaVine signed a five-year, $215 million max contract over the offseason, so if he does become available after Jan. 15, a trade for the two-time All-Star won’t come easy. Bill Simmons created a LaVine trade idea with the Knicks that would surprisingly benefit New York but isn’t a deal that Chicago would ever do.
Any star that does become available is going to be linked to the Knicks because they have what it would take to get a deal done. If the Bulls do decide to explore trade options for LaVine, New York’s front office will have to decide if he’s worth going all-in for.
Trading for LaVine would be a risky move for the Knicks, but regardless, if the front office decides to do just that, let’s explore what a trade package would look like.
What would it take for Knicks to trade for Bulls All-Star Zach LaVine?
If Chicago did decide to trade Zach LaVine, it’d mean that the Bulls would be entering a rebuilding phase. Similar to New York’s discussions with Utah, Chicago likely wouldn’t be satisfied with only receiving veterans back in a trade, which is why sending Julius Randle to the Bulls wouldn’t be probable.
The below scenario would work financially for both teams:
Chicago would be getting two young players in Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley, as well as a three-point shooter in Evan Fournier. But of course, the story of this trade would be Derrick Rose returning to the Bulls to possibly finish his career.
Toppin and Quickley would be enticing as key rebuilding pieces for Chicago as both were first-round picks in 2020 with Obi being a lottery pick. Parting ways with those two would be difficult for Knicks fans regardless of the situation, but especially for a player like LaVine. How would he fit in New York? Is he worth pursuing? Those are two questions that have understandably been floating around.
The Bulls haven’t shown any indication that they’re going to shop LaVine. Their slow start to the season has fired up the trade rumor mill but if things don’t turn around in Chicago, the organization could very well end up being sellers at the trade deadline.
Whether you want to see Zach LaVine on the Knicks or not, his situation is one worth monitoring after Woj’s report.
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