Zach LaVine's time with the Chicago Bulls is bound to come to an end soon. The team wants to keep this core intact but is also eager to avoid the luxury tax. LaVine may be the odd man out.

This Bulls core is not doing anything special yet the front office is hellbent on keeping it together. The middle ground of not competing for a championship but also not being terrible while also keeping payroll more manageable is precisely what Chicago appears to be aiming for. Moving on from LaVine and his giant contract makes sense for what the franchise’s goals seem to be.

The Bulls are not being shy about their willingness to trade LaVine, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Lead executive Arturas Karnišovas has reportedly proposed more than a dozen different scenarios.

Johnson writes the following: “It’s why Zach LaVine’s future isn’t the only trade scenario that has been discussed, even if sources said Karnišovas has floated as many as 15 proposals centered on the two-time All-Star guard to various teams including the Sacramento Kings, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers.”

That’s a hefty number of proposals for LaVine, who is coming off a rough season and is owed over $40 million in each of the next three seasons (the last of which is a player option that, at this rate, he could likely pick up). It’s unclear how many teams would have a legitimate interest in trading for LaVine at this point, even as a fallback option.

Bulls making several Zach LaVine trade proposals

The problem with the Bulls trading LaVine is that other teams probably don’t want to part with the assets Chicago wants. The veteran guard's contract is very big and it may lead rival teams to prefer trading fewer assets or receive other assets along with LaVine in return. His trade value being on the decline will only make it harder for the Bulls to find a suitable trade, which is already complicated by the new CBA and its impact on big spenders.

Although the Bulls aren’t going to threaten to go over the second apron, other teams could. Plenty more will cross the first one. Taking on LaVine's contract is going to make payroll way more expensive and will be harder to swallow if LaVine, fresh off of a season-ending foot injury, doesn’t go back to playing at an All-Star level.

The teams that Johnson listed do make sense as a fit for LaVine, though. Magic need shooting badly and have two young stars to help LaVine. The Kings could lose Malik Monk in free agency and were linked previously to the Bulls for both LaVine and Alex Caruso. The 76ers are looking for another star alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

However, although all of those teams (and others) make sense for a scoring presence off the wing like LaVine, there are way more options that seemingly have more upside and won't cost as much. A team that wants LaVine would be better off going after a player like Monk or trading for a guard like Collin Sexton or Jordan Clarkson. In a cost-benefit analysis, getting a lesser player at a cheaper price in terms of both contract and assets in a trade seems to be much more beneficial than paying a huge sum for LaVine. Chicago may have a lot of trade proposals but it doesn’t seem like many of them are likely to play out.