Stop me if you've heard this one before… the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to be in the mix to trade for a disgruntled All-Star. The disgruntled All-Star this time around is Chicago Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine, who is averaging 22 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game for an aimless Bulls team that is 5-13 at the time of this writing. The 22 points per game is LaVine's lowest mark since the 2017-18 season.

The Zach LaVine to the Lakers trade rumors have been out there for a while, and given the fact that LaVine grew up on the west coast and went to UCLA, there's reason to believe that he would be receptive to being traded to one of the NBA's most prestigious and successful franchises. However, the Rob Pelinka and the Lakers aren't expected to hastily jump into discussions with Artūras Karnišovas and the Bulls, according to Shams Charania of FanDuel TV.

As someone who has a two-decade-long rooting interest in LeBron James, I would advise the Lakers to proceed with caution. I hope the Lakers won't be too aggressive to acquire LaVine, and I hope that as soon as the Bulls toss Austin Reeves' name into the conversation, the conversation comes to an immediate close.

And our man Shams Charania makes a good point — when the Lakers sought out to trade for Kyrie Irving at the trade deadline last season, they came up short and Irving went to Dallas. The Lakers instead were forced to pivot and turn toward building a roster that was more similar to the one they had built in 2019-20, when the Lakers won their 17th NBA Title. The 2023-24 team resembles that squad, and early returns seem to indicate the Lakers will be in the championship mix so long as LeBron James and Anthony Davis can stay reasonably healthy throughout the season.