Chicago Bulls: Recent Zach LaVine trade scenarios return big hauls
By Ryan Heckman
1. Chicago Bulls send Zach LaVine to San Antonio
The first trade Siegel mentions has the Bulls sending LaVine to the San Antonio Spurs, where he’d join legendary head coach Gregg Popovich. The Spurs have not been all that competitive for a little while now, mostly since their big three all left the game. Without Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, they’ve struggled.
It’s mostly been on the shoulders of LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan now, but even DeRozan has been subject of trade rumors, too. The Spurs are in a tough spot where you wonder if they should just completely sell the farm and rebuild, or go after a guy like LaVine to try and see if they can find that missing piece.
In this deal, the Bulls get experienced point guard Patty Mills from San Antonio, who could immediately step in and start if Coby White slid to the shooting guard spot for LaVine. If the Bulls decided to roll with Tomas Satoransky, Mills would be a fine bench candidate, which he’s already used to in San Antonio.
The great part about Mills in this deal, though, is that his contract expires after this year giving the Bulls more flexibility this summer. His cap hit is roughly $13 million for 2020-2021.
The Bulls would also get young guard Derrick White, who is out due to a fractured toe right now. But, the former first-round pick could be a potential building block for the Bulls’ bench going forward as well.
Obviously, the big part of this trade is the first rounder from the Spurs. It would be lottery protected, but if the Spurs improved with LaVine, there’s a great chance that pick becomes Chicago’s in the end.