Previous reporting indicated that Bulls guard Zach LaVine prefers to end up with the Lakers if he’s traded, but his agent Rich Paul says that’s not the case.
“It’s not one team,” Paul told Sam Amick of The Athletic. “I don’t have a specific destination for Zach. I want what’s best for Zach and his family. When you have a guy playing the game, you want him to be able to play the game happy, whether that’s in Chicago or somewhere else.”
Paul pointed out that his agency — Klutch Sports — has players on 24 of the league’s 30 teams. LaVine is currently sidelined with a foot injury that’s expected to keep him out for at least a couple more weeks. The priority for now is to get the two-time All-Star healthy, Paul told Amick.
Here are some more trade rumors from Amick:
- The Kings have been linked to Raptors forwards Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby several times in the past, and while their stance might change, the cost of trading for either player might be too exorbitant for Sacramento, according to Amick. As Amick explains, the Kings likely wouldn’t be willing to make a massive offer with both players possibly hitting unrestricted free agency next summer; Siakam is on an expiring contract, while Anunoby is “widely expected” to turn down his 2024/25 player option (which is worth $19.9MM). Amick hears that Anunoby, in particular, “does not appear to be of significant interest” to Sacramento.
- His injury and expensive contract long-term contract would almost certainly dampen what they’d willing to offer, but Amick suggests the Kings could be interested in LaVine if the price is right. Sacramento went into the offseason focused on improving its defense, Amick writes, and the team has been pretty successful on that front, going from 24th in ’22/23 to 14th in ’23/24. However, after having the NBA’s best offense last season, the Kings are 14th on that end right now too, and Amick suggests they’re focused on adding more shooting and scoring — LaVine’s best attributes. Sources tell Amick that LaVine would be “very amenable” to teaming up with De’Aaron Fox — another Klutch client — in the Kings’ backcourt. That aligns with a report last month from Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
- Both Amick and Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee confirm the Kings are highly unlikely to trade second-year forward Keegan Murray, who just erupted for a career-high 47 points on Saturday, becoming the first player in NBA history to make 11 consecutive three-pointers in a single game. As Anderson writes, Murray set multiple franchise records in the victory over Utah: Points in a quarter (26), threes made in a quarter (seven) and threes made in a game (12). He finished a remarkable 12-of-15 from long distance.
Kings should go for Wiseman Finney-smith Gary Harris.
Is DFS on the block? If they can get a FRP, that’s gotta be peak value right?
Would Caruso not fit them better tho?
Caruso has been consistently labeled as off-limits by the Chicago FO. Unless they get a PG13-esque haul for him (which is ludicrous to even think about), he’s going nowhere at the moment.
Read: “please…someone…anyone! Take lavine! We’re desperate!”
Lavine is a great athlete but just not a winning player. Too bad he is paid like one. Has to be the strangest max contract signing ever. It seemed like a bad idea then and yep….it was.
Zach LaVine to Sacramento
Huerter, Davion, Vezenkov & filler to Chicago.. Sacramento upgrades from Huerter in a big way. Losing Davion hurts a bit but Colby Jones is prob just as good tbh… Chicago gets some useful players in return for a guy that really wasn’t affecting winning very much, especially considering his salary
They won’t trade Vezenkov after all they did to bring him over, I do think Huerter and Davion get moved with some 2nds if they want Lavine. They may need to add Barnes or some TPE’s if they had them. Lavine makes $40mill so hard to match salaries.
Rich Paul is a scumbag
Sacramento doesn’t have the assets for Zach LaVine. The only thing they have of interest is Keegan Murray, and he isn’t available for LaVine.
Bulls don’t have to move LaVine until the offseason if necessary. They can wait.
Coby White’s team now.
LaVine is like a more scoring-dominant Tyler Herro, but Herro is a better playmaker. And that’s when he’s at full health and ability. If he were paid like Herro, maybe teams would have interest. As it is, he’s an expensive sixth man or an off-ball scorer who is at best your third option on a winning team.
I’d take him over Beal, though. Even before Beal’s injuries this year, he was wildly overpaid.
I’m not a fan of LaVine, to say the least. But SAC wouldn’t be the worst landing spot for him. Their early 1970’s style would suit him. That fit doesn’t address the injury risk. Or the often financially crippling 3 max deal payroll going forward. I’m also not sure what SAC should give up? Certainly not Sabonis, Fox or Murray. I’d also like to keep Barnes out of it.
CHI would be short-sighted to be too picky. I believe AK-55 understands the value of getting a deal done well in advance of the deadline. But, of course, optics still count.
Can someone tell Zach nobody gives 2 shi*ts about what he wants…I mean really dude, be happy with the bag, put your head down and try and earn another one (wherever that may be)
** I’m really happy with the Beal deal earlier this year , sets precedent (finally) that your value is tied to your AAV not jersey sales. Going to take 2k a while to adjust but the Beal deal was a nice template for not only trading purposes but also signing quasi stars to such rich contracts in the future.
If you look back at the initial Beal Hr signing post you’ll see the posters here with sharper edges were on this the day of the signing, the rest (2kers) sung songs of glee
Did you not just read that his agent stated that there is no team they’ve demanded to be traded to or do you just hate just to hate????
Did you not read the many many quotes saying he doesn’t want to be a Knick?
If LaVine was making 25 per, teams wouldn’t second guess trading for him. At 40M tho, it’s too much.
Almost $50 mil by the end of it. Horrible contract.
The Bulls will trade LaVine but they are not getting a haul for him.
It is clear that LaVine does not fit the Bulls system and when he does come back he might be the Sixth Man on the team.
My, Opinion, your 2 weak spots on the Kings are SF Barnes who is too inconsistant and not a good defender; and PG Mitchell, who plays decent defense but does Not score anything or dish off the ball. several games where Mitchell ate up min but didn’t score anything and the Kings lost by 3 or 4 points. I don’t care how good your defense is, you still have to score a few points. Barnes refuses to rebound or play defense, period.
Also, Huerter is too inconsistant. There are your immediate needs.
Trade Barnes, move Murray to SF and get Siakam to play PF. Trade Hueter and Mitchell for a box of Donuts and Start Monk.
Davion is likely getting moved with Ellis seeming to take his backup spot.
Monk is best off the bench commanding his own unit and finishing games with starters. Barnes is the vet leader but they will use his contract to get better player. Duarte when he is healthy should mean Huerter is getting less minutes, possibly on the block.
Lavine is always disgruntled, doesn’t play defense, is almost literally never on a good team (he is the common denominator), has a massive contract, and his current team is 5-13 with him and 4-4 without him. And he will probably cost multiple 1sts to acquire. Gee, I wonder why teams aren’t lining up for him.
Where did he ever state he was disgruntled? His team sucks and they want to cut salary
You should google him. There’s always grumblings about this dude not being happy. Wherever he is.
Here, I’ll do it for you:
google.com/search?q=zach+lavine+disgruntled
Play around with the dates on the search results and you’ll see stories from pretty much every year this dude has been in the league. He doesn’t have to literally state, ‘I am disgruntled’ for it to be true.
Spot om Rct- I thought his comments about the Knicks were hilarious
Like dude, save it, dont worry your not wanted here neways- ZAachs smart tho he knows he wouldn’t last a Ny minute as a Knick
@Cap: for real. Trading for LaVine would have been a classic Knicks moved in the mid-00s. They would have traded a million 1sts for him and he would have collapsed in NYC.
Can’t see LaVine being traded now. Can’t just give him away. You don’t trade LaVine unless it’s a full rebuild.
If you think Coby is the answer. Then you understand why the Bulls are where they are.
DeM >>>> to Knickerbockers …..
Trade Mitchell, Barnes & Whatever else for Caruso…better fit for their team & needs than Lavine, Markannen. Raptors want way too much for OG & Siakam, so pass there…