Grade the Trade: Chicago starts their rebuild by moving Zach LaVine in a proposed deal with Spurs.
In the proposed deal from Fanspo, the Spurs would send Doug McDermott, Cedi Osman, and Devonte Graham, along with three first-round picks, to the Bulls for Zach LaVine. Trading three role players that don’t figure to have a future in San Antonio for a star would probably be tempting and the Spurs can easily afford to give up multiple picks in a hypothetical deal for LaVine.
Although the Spurs would be getting the best player in the trade, the Bulls would have their reasons for doing the deal. One reason is that McDermott, Graham, and Osman are all essentially on expiring contracts, allowing Chicago to save $40 million next season and $136 million in total. Moving on from LaVine would help the Bulls quickly pivot from being a borderline playoff team to rebuilding.
Considering that they don’t have many assets, were they to move LaVine, this deal would likely be similar to what they would want in return for their best player. Whether Chicago would trade him or if the Spurs would be interested in LaVine are two different conversations. Next, we’ll take a look at whether the Bulls would agree to the trade.