The Los Angeles Clippers and Chicago Bulls are two of the biggest losers of the 2024 NBA offseason. The Clippers lost Paul George in free agency to the Philadelphia 76ers for nothing. The Bulls managed to trade both Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan without recouping a single first-round pick in return.
However, both teams can help each other out now. Chicago wants to offload Zach LaVine's contract and Los Angeles want to remain competitive. What could a LaVine trade between the Bulls and Clippers look like?
Clippers land Zach LaVine in trade with Bulls
Clippers receive: Zach Lavine, two future second-round picks
Bulls receive: Norman Powell, PJ Tucker, Bones Hyland and Amir Coffey
Why the Clippers do it
Zach LaVine is far from the defensive player that Paul George is, but he is outstanding on the other end. LaVine had five consecutive seasons averaging at least 24.4 points and four assists per game while posting an effective field goal percentage of at least 52% in each campaign. That is elite or very close to it.
The Clipper especially could use that scoring punch he can provide. George is gone and it is a near certainty that Kawhi Leonard is going to miss time any given season. It could be a few games here and there or it could be a few months. But they need to have some type of offensive engine in the event that happens.
James Harden is still around and he can turn back the clock to his Houston days now and again, but not consistently. A team that sees itself as anything close to a contender should not want to revert back to Harden's Houston hero ball era where he completely controls the entire shot clock every possession.
That's who the Clippers see themselves as, at least right now. They didn't sign quality defenders like Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum, and Kris Dunn to fall to the bottom of the league. With them opening a brand new arena, they're going to want remain somewhat competitive.
The Clippers would do that by making this trade for LaVine. He is a flawed player but he can help keep them afloat after George's exit in free agency. They wouldn't give up a whole lot to get him either. Hopefully, those other additions the Clippers made can cover for him defensively.
Why the Bulls do it
Does Chicago really have a choice here? What sense would it make for them to keep LaVine (and Nikola Vucevic)? For all his faults, he's still a player who has made a couple of All-Star games in his career. They wouldn't completely fall to the bottom of the league with him and Vucevic still around flanking Coby White and new addition Josh Giddey.
If the Bulls are serious about a rebuild, which they should, they've got to get off of LaVine. He's too good of a player to keep around in this scenario and his contract is more than cumbersome. Getting off of it by any means that don't include trading a first-round pick would be a home run for the Bulls. This deal would accomplish that and then some.
They could also get more draft capital with the other veterans they'd be bringing in. Tucker could maybe fetch them a second-round pick or use his expiring contract as a trade chip. They could maybe get a first for Powell or at least multiple seconds. On top of that, they can take a look at Hyland and Coffey and see if they can fit into their future plans.
The window to get maximum trade value for LaVine expired long ago for the Bulls, just as it did with DeRozan. They'll have to settle for trading him for 55 cents on the dollar. But it's still a deal they should do. Chicago has already kicked the rebuild into gear. It makes more sense for the Bulls to now trade LaVine than it does to keep him.
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