Getty Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks prepares to play prior to game five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
After missing out on three-time All-Star Bradley Beal, the New York Knicks could have another shot at a star trade. This time, a younger All-Star wing who fits the timeline of their core, led by their rising point guard Jalen Brunson, who will turn 27 in August.
Enter Zach LaVine, who the Chicago Bulls have been quietly gauging his trade market, Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer reported on June 15.
LaVine’s price tag is more expensive than that of Beal, according to NBC Sports’ Bulls insider K.C. Johnson.
“The Bulls, according to league sources, are valuing LaVine highly, as they should. He’s a two-time All-Star who is coming off a season in which he overcame a slow start to average 24.8 points per game on a true shooting percentage of 60.7 percent.
One league source said the Bulls would be focused on getting a good young player, multiple first-round picks and salary filler if they decide to trade LaVine. Another said one first-round pick and an established, high-end player might be sufficiently intriguing,” Johnson wrote.
The Knicks make an attractive trade partner as they fit the first criteria.
They have 10 first-round selections from 2024 through 2029, six of their own and four from other teams with varying protections. They also have multiple good young players starting with RJ Barrett, Sixth Man of the Year finalist Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes. And they have salary fillers from Evan Fournier to Derrick Rose’s expiring salary, which needs to be guaranteed to be included in any potential deal.
Johnson said LaVine is the Bulls’ biggest trade asset and noted that he is one of the two holdovers from the previous regime, the other being Coby White, whose future in Chicago is also in doubt. And with the team approaching the luxury tax territory with limited pathways to dodge it and truly contend, LaVine is their best bet to give them the maximum return.
Knicks’ Interest in Zach LaVine
The Knicks have checked in with the Bulls ahead of the last trade deadline about LaVine, according to SNY’s Knicks insider Ian Begley.
Quickley and Rose were the Knicks players discussed in the casual talks that did not go past the exploratory stage.
“When the Knicks and Bulls talked casually about a potential deal during the season (several weeks before the trade deadline), I was told that some with Chicago had interest in Immanuel Quickley,” Begley wrote in his May 18 SNY mailbag.
“…Derrick Rose was also among the players who were discussed as part of trade packages in those casual conversations between the Knicks and Bulls, per people familiar with the matter.”
LaVine could inject the pull-up shooting that the Knicks desperately need to complement Brunson, whose biggest strength is to put pressure on the rim.
Zach LaVine’s Ties with Knicks
LaVine has strong ties with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, whom he credited for his breakout year in the league during their one season together in Minnesota before he was flipped for Jimmy Butler.
There were no hard feelings. As a matter of fact, LaVine was grateful for the opportunity and Thibodeau’s trust that fueled his growth into a two-time All-Star wing in Chicago.
“Look, I understand the business of basketball,’’ LaVine told the Chicago-Sun Times months before the Knicks hired Thibodeau in 2020. “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 a 20, 21-year-old kid and said, ‘Go hoop.’ That’s bigger than the business of basketball.”
