Zach LaVine wants to join the Lakers, Heat or 76ers, according to previous reporting from Yahoo Sports, but now a dark horse candidate has emerged for his services.
This week, ESPN insider Bobby Marks appeared on Sirius XM Radio and suggested the Detroit Pistons could be a potential trade suitor for LaVine.
“Detroit is, what, 2-17? I would not be surprised if Detroit dipped their toe into the Zach LaVine [market] and see if we can get a guy who’s a former All-Star who we couldn’t get in free agency and it doesn’t cost as much … that they go out and do something like that. That would be kind of a team I’d just keep an eye on,” Marks said.
If LaVine is miserable with the 7-14 Bulls, it’s hard to imagine he’d be any happier with the 2-18 Pistons.
Detroit can always try their luck anyway, but they would be wise to proceed with caution as they’d likely have a pretty disgruntled player on their hands.
Previously, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski suggested the market for LaVine wasn’t looking as promising as he and the Bulls would’ve hoped.
“There is not a market for Zach LaVine right now in the NBA,” Wojnarowski said. “That’s not because Chicago has not tried to find it, and aren’t currently trying to find it. It’s a combination of a few reasons: LaVine’s contract — four more years at around a $45-46 million a year average. But his productivity, I think this is a player right now who, certainly he’s out right now with a foot injury. He’s been in and out of the lineup.
“I think the question for teams is, ‘How much does Zach LaVine impact winning?’ Especially at the salary and with a new salary cap, where you’re asking yourself, ‘Are we trading for him to be our best player?’ No. ‘Our second-best player?’ No. So, if he’s our third-best player, do we want to pay that kind of money?”
In other words, this marriage-gone-wrong between the Bulls and LaVine may have some way to go before either party can finalise divorce papers.
READ MORE: NBA Insider Reveals Where Zach LaVine Trade Market Stands