New York Knicks: 3 reasons to trade for Zach LaVine

The idea of trading for Zach LaVine elicits groans from most New York Knicks fans, but there are three good reasons to trade for the Bulls guard.

After longtime player agent Leon Rose took over the New York Knicks, speculation grew that the team would attempt to add stars to the roster quickly. SNY’s Ian Begley reported that some within the organization believed they were well-positioned to trade for a disgruntled star.

There’s one flaw in that plan. The Utah Jazz aren’t trading former Leon Rose client Donovan Mitchell for RJ Barrett or Mitchell Robinson, and the same goes even more so for the Phoenix Suns and Devin Booker. Oh yeah, and if Rose wants Chris Paul, he’ll probably have to overpay for the point god.

But someone the Knicks can go and get is polarizing Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine. New York is reportedly already getting familiar with him. Begley noted back in July that both the Knicks and Nets are monitoring the situation with LaVine in Chicago.

It’s not exactly a secret that LaVine — and most everyone else on the Bulls — doesn’t seem to be happy playing for Jim Boylen. Conversely, LaVine had nothing but good things to say in The Chicago Sun-Times about new Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, “He should damn well be coaching somewhere, that’s for sure.”

LaVine claimed there’s no bad blood over his old coach trading him for Jimmy Butler:

"“Yeah, he traded me, but for that one season he did coach me, he gave me an opportunity. He put the ball in the hands of 20, 21-year-old kid, and said, ‘Go hoop.’ That’s bigger than the business of basketball.”"

LaVine isn’t near the level of Mitchell, Booker, or Paul, and even the appearance of LaVine’s name in connection with the Knicks will drive fans crazy. But this isn’t a typical “Knicksy” move. LaVine, 25, is just coming into his prime rather than being way past it. That’s new.

I get it. There’s more than a couple of red flags. LaVine’s off-ball defense is suspect, he’s not much of a playmaker, and as Knicks Film School’s Jonathan Macri points out, LaVine has been a losing player for most of his career.

(What kind of nerd would I be if I didn’t shudder at the thought of those on/off numbers?)

LaVine is also signed through the 2021-2022 season at $19.5 million per year, so his contract situation isn’t ideal.

With all that said, the pros still outweigh the cons for me.