Zach LaVine is very much available right now. The problem is, the former All-Star guard isn’t at the moment. The , but as of this moment, they’ve failed to find anyone who’s even been willing to engage on serious trade talks.
There have been reports the Bulls are needing to attach picks to LaVine to move him, and the to flip Andrew Wiggins and Chris Paul for him, preferring instead to simply waive Paul’s non-guaranteed deal and slide under the first apron. As a result, we are in a place where LaVine is still in Chicago and very well might start the season there. The Bulls made it clear their goal this summer was to trade him, but if their choices are salary dumps or letting him start the year, prove he’s healthy, and build some value back, they might choose the latter.
However, things can change quickly and once the dust settles on some other moves around the league, I think some team will end up feeling left out of the summer’s game of musical chairs and might suddenly find a bit more of a desire to bring in LaVine that might swing a bit more leverage back the way of the Bulls. Once his (likely soon-to-be former) teammate DeMar DeRozan finds his next home, and we find out the futures of Brandon Ingram and Lauri Markkanen, we still could have a couple teams that feel the need to be a contender but missed out on a big summer deal. Alternatively, a team in a rebuild (but past the tanking stage) may decide they’ll buy low on LaVine, and hope he can help them take a.