The Chicago Bulls are getting hit with Zach LaVine trade rumors left and right. The All-Star guard is the team’s most valuable asset, and after a 4-7 start to the 2023-24 campaign, it’s time to start turning some of those assets into future draft picks for a complete rebuild. The Milwaukee Bucks should be one of the teams in on LaVine to create a Big 3 with Giannis Antetokonmpo and Damien Lillard. Here is the Bucks' perfect Zach LaVine trade they can offer the Bulls, centered around Khris Middleton.
Zach LaVine for Khris Middleton and picks
Let’s start by noting that the Bucks and Bulls can’t make a Zach LaVine trade until Dec. 14, 2023, or later. That’s because due to their new contract, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez can’t be traded until Dec. 14 and Jan. 14, respectively. Without at least one of those two contracts to match up with LaVine’s $40.1 million, a deal is impossible.
That said, Dec. 14 is just a month away, and a Middleton-LaVine swap at the heart of this trade makes sense for the Bucks, although not as much for the Bulls.
LaVine can be a better defender than Middleton, even if the numbers don’t back that up yet. The Bulls guard is an average defender at best by the numbers, but that has as much to do with his team as his skills. In fact, when questioned about his defense this offseason, LaVine made the bold claim that he has “always been one of the best on-ball defenders.”
Plus, LaVine is younger, more athletic, and far less injury-prone than Middleton, which is key if the Bucks want to make a legit championship run over the next seven months.
The Bucks are already almost all in for this season, and locked in Giannis to a long-term extension after the Lilliard trade. It’s time to empty the cupboards and go for it all while the “Greek Freak” is still in a Milwaukee uniform.
For the Bulls, it is officially time to blow it up. They should have done it last trade deadline, but instead, they re-signed Nikola Vucevic, and they are worse off for it.
Ideally, the Bulls would get a ton of picks, pick swaps, and young players or expiring contracts for LaVine, but if that market isn’t there, the Bucks can put together an intriguing deal. The big selling point here is that Middleton could make the current team better. The Bulls shouldn’t want that, but it seems like they do.
What could be good is that if the Bulls come to their senses or the trade just doesn't work out, they could flip Middleton for draft picks.
The Bucks-Bulls Zach LaVine trade would be Lavine and Andre Drummond for Khris Middleton, Pat Connaughton, Cam Payne, and MarJon Beauchamp. The Bucks don’t control the fate of any of their next seven first-round picks (and almost no second-rounders), so draft picks aren’t really in play here.
Is this a good deal for the Bulls? No, unless they still think they are a small shakeup away from contending for a playoff spot. If they want to (or need to) deal LaVine, they should go for more of a rebuilding package with a team like the New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, or Indiana Pacers.
That said, the Bulls seem to be the last to know that they are going nowhere, so maybe this Bucks-Bulls trade is just crazy enough to work.
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