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The Los Angeles Lakers’ 3-0 start to the 2024-25 NBA season feels like a distant memory.
None of these are huge worries when weighed against the scope of the 82-game marathon, but they are reminders that things maybe aren’t perfect in the land of Purple and Gold. They’re also indicators that while this may well be a good team, it isn’t necessarily one of the Association’s elite.
If the Lakers hope to join that class of heavyweight title contenders, they may have to look outside the organization for help. They could do worse than starting their search in the Windy City.
That’s where the Chicago Bulls are “expected to explore trade options” involving Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević, per ESPN’s Jamal Collier. Both have been previously connected to the Lakers as possible trade targets.
Now, there are reasons neither has landed in L.A.—or anywhere outside of Chicago—to this point. Each makes a huge chunk of change (LaVine has a $43 million salary while Vučević makes $20 million, per Spotrac), and while they’re both capable of posting big stat lines, neither has much history with team success.
The Bulls, who seem fairly (and finally) committed to a youth movement, have previously shopped both veterans to no avail. Their trade markets have produced little more than cricket chirps to this point.
If the Lakers were going to give chase, then, the price would have to make sense on their part. These aren’t break-open-the-piggy-bank types of trade targets.
However, they also aren’t ones who must be avoided at all costs. If either sits in the clearance section, they could be worthwhile investments.
LaVine is a two-time All-Star who’s averaging north of 22 points for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. He’s also shooting the daylights out of the basketball so far, converting 49.5 percent of his field goals and 45.8 percent of his perimeter shots. Those numbers are hard to overlook for a team in need of more outside shooting and support scoring alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Vučević, meanwhile, has booked two prior All-Star trips of his own. He offers one of the better scoring-distributing blends at the center position, and after running cold with his shooting in recent seasons, he’s been scorching hot to start this one. It’s early, obviously, but he’s shattering his previous best with a 45.7 percent three-point splash rate while averaging the second-most triples of his career (2.0).
Both have things to prove—staying healthy for LaVine, sustaining this shooting for Vučević—but that’s fine, because the Lakers don’t need to rush into a deal. They’re still getting a feel for this roster and JJ Redick’s impact on it.
Not to mention, it’ll be a while before the trade market really takes shape. It’s too early for teams to tell what they can or can’t achieve this season. And it’ll be over a month before anyone signed this summer becomes eligible to be traded.
By the time the Lakers are ready to make a deal, perhaps a batch of more interesting players than the Bulls’ veterans are up for grabs. And maybe it’s obvious at that point that L.A.’s needs are so great that it feels compelled to empty the asset collection in a sizable swap.
The Lakers can’t know that yet, though. What they can already admit—and seemingly have in the past—is that LaVine and Vučević are both capable of helping this roster.
L.A. should know the ins and outs of their availability: trade cost, potential impact, ease of transition. There’s a universe in which it makes sense for the Lakers to pursue one of these players this season, and maybe it’s the one we’re living in.
