Report: Lakers among Zach LaVine’s ‘preferred landing spots’ in a trade
The Lakers are among three teams on Zach LaVine’s preferred landing spots, including the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat, if the Bulls were to trade him.
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Get ready now, because the months of Zach LaVine trade rumors are only getting started. Days after it was reported the Lakers were interested in Zach LaVine — among other Lakers guards — the newest report links the franchise and player going the other way.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported on Friday that the Lakers were among a trio of teams that are preferred spots for LaVine to land.
LaVine and his representation hold several preferred landing spots, such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers, league sources told Yahoo Sports, and each team has registered some level of interest in the Bulls guard.
This isn’t much of a surprise as LaVine himself basically said this in the recent past. Last year before his free agency, LaVine talked about how much he likes the Lakers…on the streets of Los Angeles. And, obviously, LaVine attended UCLA as well, furthering his connection to the city.
Ultimately, none of the three teams listed are a surprise and all three were likely already considered the frontrunners. The Lakers and Miami are both often included in trades for any noteworthy player while the Sixers just landed a host of assets burning a hole in their proverbial pockets.
The other major note from Fischer’s piece is the reported asking price of Alex Caruso, one of the other players the Lakers are interested in.
The Bulls have already required multiple first-round picks for the 29-year-old veteran when opposing teams have asked about Caruso’s availability. If his number of suitors were to indeed match the breadth of teams that checked with Portland about landing Jrue Holiday this fall, it’s not unreasonable to expect Caruso to fetch the Bulls a similar price point of draft capital, as Holiday netted the Blazers both a 2024 and 2029 first-round pick.
Now, I love Caruso as much as the next Lakers fan, but expecting an asking price similar to what the Blazers got for Jrue Holiday is a bit much. Regardless of that part of the debate, it’s certainly more than the Lakers can offer as they only have one tradeable first round pick.
If the Bulls see Jalen Hood-Schifino, still in his rookie year, as valuable as a first round pick, then perhaps they could get in that conversation. The likelihood also exists that this is the starting price for the Bulls and they’ll eventually come down on it.
Or, at least hopefully.
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