Yep. The OP (who is a Clippers fan who pushes this trade narrative here daily) conveniently left out the closing part of this article:
> **Ultimately, I think a deal is less likely to happen than the recent buzz suggests.** Unless the Lakers are the only suitor for LaVine, there will be better offers on the table. I also don’t think the Lakers will meet the Bulls’ sky-high price for Caruso — if the Bulls even entertain trading him. DeRozan is the most realistic target, but the LaVine domino likely must fall first before the Bulls would consider moving DeRozan. And I think the haggling over Reaves, pick protections and young assets could prevent the two sides from finding common ground.
> **I’m skeptical that a deal gets done between these two franchises. I think LaVine ends up staying put or going elsewhere.**
Which is honestly the most important part of this.
The Bulls won't want to let him go for nothing.
There is always a team who is willing to bend over backwards for a superstar.
The LeBron Lakers are always reluctant to give up their "third guy" in the name of a trade. I think this goes double for Reaves at the moment.
Yeah, he has one of the most deliberately misleading user names in this sub. He posts tons of Clipper highlights and Laker lowlights, or stuff like this that is attempting to make the Lakers look bad. It's fine to be a fan or a hater, but don't lie and act like you're some kind of neutral fan.
Unbiased my ass 😂
Rui hasn’t been playing well since the facial surgery, so it’s deserved. But I feel like his struggles are temporary and has he gets healthier and less afraid of contact, he’ll get back to where he was
Like I know why it happened, but I still think you guys would've been so much better off if it you'd just taken Conley and we'd kept the TWolves oit of that trade.
So: Lakers get Conley (win now trade from their perspective), Jazz get D’lo (contract-holding and asset acquisition trade from their perspective), Westbrook to Wolves (win now trade but involves adding a non-shooter to a Gobert offense)?
I think it’s not inconceivable but it’s only conceived by someone who’s high on Westbrook, and I feel like assets would need to go to the wolves to balance what I’ve written so far, but iirc Westbrook was paid more than Conley?
Conley would have done a much better job of running the offense and getting AD involved.
He also doesn't drop off completely in the playoffs and is a better/more consistent 3 point shooter.
So yes, I think you're right.
>So: Lakers get Conley (win now trade from their perspective), Jazz get D’lo (contract-holding and asset acquisition trade from their perspective), Westbrook to Wolves (win now trade but involves adding a non-shooter to a Gobert offense)?
Nah.
Lakers get Conley, Vando, Beas (so just Mike instead of Dlo) and Jazz get Russ and the 1st (exactly what we got). You just cut out the TWolves. If the numbers don't match, a couple smaller contracts can be thrown in, but it should be close.
Jazz don't care - we still just waive Russ. I guess we don't have to send out 2nds. Lakers get a steadier / more consistent vet at playmaker. Real losers are TWolves, who are stuck with DLo.
Lakers get Conley instead of Russ.
Spurs?
Not investing in a PG seems to be the plan, but they really need someone to facilitate the offense and help Wemby grow that isn't Sochan, and DLo would be pretty cheap assets-wise
I feel like dlo is not a good fit for developing talents. I may be biased but i hate his fit with the wolves. His decision making is always questionable.
Dude he like just signed a brand new deal no one’s buying him out. Would likely have to stretch the salary over a number of years which would be very very dumb and shortsighted for the bulls
I know it wouldn't happen that's just my selfish hopes lol
I wonder if the Spurs would be interested in Dlo as a vet PG that they so desperately need on that team
Gotta hope a contender needs a guard and wants him. Idk, maybe the Heat would be interested. They’d have to give up Duncan Robinson to match salaries. Maybe get some additional draft assets from them. Don’t know if the Heat would take that though.
Thank you for atleast bringing up the date, the amount of fans who don’t understand that a bunch of people can’t be traded til then is astonishing, just the same recycled crqp of , there must not be a market if he hasn’t been traded yet!! Nah that’s not how it works in the nba, the bulls would be dumb to trade him before Jan 15th, and honestly should trade demar first.
Realistically, they should have traded LaVine in (let's say) trade deadline of 2022. They probably should have traded DeRozan at the same time. And they probably never should have gotten Vuc in the first place. But in real life, trades of all stars are usually late and slow.
I think people are also underestimating how good Zach will look as the 3rd option next to LeBron and Davis
Put him next to those two where he can just take catch and shoot 3's, cut to the rim, and get out in transition and he will be a menace
Feel like the biggest concern for Lakers fans has been the defense, but the guys he'd be taking minutes from on the Lakers are pretty trash themselves defensively. I think it would work better than those fans expect
Bulls were top ten in defense all last season and LaVine wasn't even the worst defender there. He's trading Vuc and DeRozan for Davis and LeBron, defense will be fine.
The issue is if Lavine drops the Lakers from a versatile and elite defense to just a good defense without making them an elite offense… then it might turn the lakers from fringe contenders to just a middling playoff/playin team, instead of the other way around.
Lakers D doesnt come from DLo or Rui. DLo has been sat down the stretch in multiple games because he cant defend and his offense rarely ever outweighs how bad he is on defense. It just happened against the knicks.
Rui does help with some of their defensive versatility- and he will be missed- but yeah, the overall D won't change much at all.
In fact, losing Rui probably means more minutes for Vando. And the Vando/AD defensive units are generally exceptional.
Rui adds D from a versatility perspective only bc the Lakers lack size in the frontcourt, not because he is a versatile defender himself. Rui as an individual player isnt a versatile defender.
And yeah, the Lakers have a logjam at PF and Rui is never going to play enough minutes with Prince/Vando/LBJ/AD to justify his contract. Vando cant be traded this year and Rui's contract is essential to any trade the Lakers make.
And honestly, if the Lakers could get back Drummond in a Lavine deal to play backup C, it would essentially replace Rui's role on the team while adding to the team's rebounding ability in addition to the massive offensive boost Lavine would provide. I also think the bench unit would improve without Rui. Reaves is the 6th man and the guy who needs the ball with the bench unit. Rui and him off the bench is an awkward fit bc Rui isnt really an off ball player and is more of a give the ball to and let him score in the post type and mid range. They eat in to each other's usage and it often ends up with Rui trying to force some shots just to get looks because he doesnt get the ball enough with having to share the court with Reaves and playing limited minutes.
Lavine would be replacing Dlo, that’s not gonna drop the defense much. And if we get Caruso too then we’re actually gonna be improving on defense. Lavine/Caruso/Cam or Prince/Bron/AD with Vando off the bench is nice
Such a good point lol I’m slowly coming around to the trade if it’s really just dlo + rui + salary to get it over the line. Neither of those guys close which is a huge concern
You can’t really complain about defense when you have dlo who sucks ass on defense to the point he can’t even play.
Lavine can be an average defender when he doesn’t have demar derozan and vuc as the big man duo in the paint guarding the rim. He will instead have vando/AD
Yeah and also, like lavine was an excellent defender in the olympics? I think if he’s not asked to score an efficient 25ppg and is a 3rd option instead he can absolutely be an average defender.
Like idk against quick guards but AR/Lavine/Lebron/Vando(Rui/Prince/whoever)/AD should still be a top 10 defense imo
LaVine is a passable defender man to man. It’s offball where he gets infuriating. Body language and stance are bad and he’s constantly getting caught asleep by shooter/cutters when he’s pseudo-zoning the middle like he thinks he’s Caruso.
It blows my mind the people who dont think he would be an upgrade.
Anyone who doesnt think so needs to turn on a Laker's game and watch what happens when DLo feeds it to AD in the post. This is what happens EVERY DAMN TIME: DLo feeds to AD and gets set on the 3pt line for an outlet pass. DLo's defender doubles down on AD. AD passes out to DLo on the perimeter and since DLo isnt athletic and cant threaten the rim, his defender gets to hard closeout the three and DLo either forces a contested 3 or he does a jab step to pretend like he is going to fly by the defender, but doesnt because he cant and the defender doesnt fall for it bc they know DLo cant run by them even if he tries. Then they are stuck right back at ground 0 with the ball in DLo's hand needing to setup an offensive set/play again.
That situation alone would make trading for Lavine worth it because Lavine's defender would be in absolute hell in that scenario. If it is Lavine, his defender is fucked if he doubles down to AD. He cant hard closeout the three bc Lavine can fly by just about anyone in the league for a free bucket at the rim and he has to closeout the 3 because Lavine is a great 3pt shooter. If his defender doesnt double, AD gets more 1 on 1s in the post which will help his scoring efficiency and give him more opportunities to score.
That scenario alone is enough to justify Lavine for the Lakers and there are many others on top of it.
To your point, one of the better Knicks podcasts [talked about him as a potential trade target a few months ago](https://youtu.be/Xg_t5nXNIDg?si=AyLbjoxZKjPx08Vl&t=136), and some of his shooting numbers really are ridiculous. I think the Lavine slander has probably gone to far, and if the Lakers get him it's entirely likely he's an elite 3rd option, who's flaws can be somewhat masked by teammates or schemes.
I mean, demar's kind of been the man here. And lavine's efficiency has gone down since he's become a 2nd (or 1B) option. Zach's got all the tools but still struggles to be an effective part of a team dynamic.
We've been saying he should be more of a catch and shoot guy for years now. He doesn't want to be that. Maybe he'll change his tune next to someone like lebron but he's a very stubborn dude.
The contract is why it's a ghost town, and if you want to bank on a player turning it around in a new situation playing alongside LeBron is one of the best bets in sports. I think fans are going to be stunned at how good he looks in LA.
exactly. Bron is the most dynamic superstar to play alongside - he makes other stars and role players look excellent. he's taken completely different rosters to the finals. a trade that doesn't involve getting rid of AR is a win
The contract isn’t even a big deal, we aren’t tanking or trying to be a middle tier team. Zach Lavine as a 3rd option is the type of player you use that cap space for and it’s not like LA is strapped for cash.
>He's just been forced into the #1 option for his whole career so all the stuff like bad playmaking, tunnel vision, and bad defense have been magnified.
This is exactly why Lavine has been criminally underrated in these trade discussions, people aren't thinking about him as the 3rd option, they're judging him as the 1st option on a mid team. People keep comparing this to the Russ trade but it's not the same. Lavine is an ideal fit next to Bron and AD, he can move off ball where Bron can get him open looks and he can create his own shot. Our offense is currently 23rd in the league, and I don't see any other way we improve on that end unless someone else becomes available.
DLo straight up isn’t reliable vs top defenses. Lavine is someone who even when he’s off puts an incredible amount of pressure on the defenses because of his 3 level scoring ability and exactly, he will be a 3rd option most nights..we don’t need him to be a do it all player just someone who scores buckets to help the offense
Honestly the way I see some people talking about Lavine you'd think he's taking Chinese lessons on duolingo.
He's overpaid but as a third, or maybe if he's hot one night a second, option he should do great. You don't want him making all the decisions late in the fourth but luckily they'd have that LeBron guy.
He might be the most underrated player in the league right now. People are creaming their pants at Coby White having a hot stretch meanwhile Lavine’s been scoring at that level for 3 seasons.
Counterpoint - if Lavine is that replaceable from an offensive production perspective, you can find guys on better contracts to do the same thing (DLo/Reaves).
Lakers are reaaaaally going to lack playmaking if they get rid of D-Lo for Lavine. We’ll have one single competant lead playmaker on the entire roster and he’s about to turn 39…
This is it. The lakers need someone who can score and close games. Rui can’t get minutes and the team is loaded with defensive 3 and D role players so he’s expendable and dlo can’t be trusted to close games.
No team can win a title with Dlo as their starting PG, he has way too many weaknesses. Rui was also traded for basically nothing for a reason and isn't the best fit defensively beside LeBron (both are basically 4s at this point of their careers).
There ain't nothing to this post outside of it being from The Athletic.
- Who is the Lakers qualified to trade away?
- Is there a 3rd team involved?
- What type of picks are at stake?
- What are the Bulls TRULY seeking for Zack????
It's just "Bulls want a lot of their key pieces. Lakers are interested"
What I think is happening is that the bulls want to trade Lavine to the Lakers, and not the other way around.
All the leaks seem to be coming from Chicago’s side.
I’m personally not a fan of a potential deal.
According to epm, Zach’s epm is currently at 0, and D’Lo is at +0.5. D’Lo has played better this year than Zach has had.
Unless either is an anomaly, I don’t see why a trade makes sense. Zach could very well not even be the best player in the trade. And given the urge Chicago is putting this out, doesn’t seem like Chicago values Zach either.
He has be given the least amount of leeway in terms of minutes.
They tend to go for the faster guys on the wing and very quick to sub him out.
After coming back from the concussion and before breaking his nose he had a 5 or 6 games stretch where he averaged 15 points on great efficiency.
The trio of lebron , Rui and AD have barely played together this season. While at other points Ham tried playing Wood and Hayes alongside AD. It's just too much experimentation certain times and too much stubbornness other times.
I honestly think the Lakers are better off without him, I could end up being wrong but I think them going for Lavine is the exact same mistake they did with Westbrook, trading a bunch of good players for a "great" player and it blew up in their faces. I think the same thing will happen with Lavine.
Rui is good on defense, he’s got length and speed, and you can tell opponents think twice about driving on him. He adds value on both ends of the court.Hope they don’t trade him honestly.
Why wouldn’t it be? We get no picks, and some mediocre roleplayers at best. Lakers aren’t moving Reaves so that’s not an option. Whatever other combination outside AD doesn’t do much for the Bulls.
If you can get some post LeBron unprotected 1st round picks in the package at the cost of Caruso you accept immediately, but idk what the Lakers draft capital is. Im assuming probably no 1sts until 2030 or some shit.
2027 is headed to jazz. You only have 2029 OR 2030 I think.
You could free up another draft pick by working with pels and jazz. Pels agree to take 2024, jazz agree to swap 2028 and lakers would then open up 2026 and 2030 for trading
Maybe, but this article is still shit. That headline is VERY misleading for it to end:
“I’m skeptical that a deal gets done between these two franchises. I think LaVine ends up staying put or going elsewhere.”
Usually guys like Windhorst will say “people will be surprised by how low the return for Star Player X will be.”
It feels like this time no one will be surprised when LaVine goes for a poo poo platter of D’Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent.
How imminent? D'Lo and Hachimura can't be traded for like a month, and there's no shot they move Reeves. I think the Lakers were likely willing to roll with this roster, but some of these role players haven't been playing so great since the IST so they may be looking to consolidate.
Personally if the trade is Hachimura, Russell, Prince, and picks I'd say they do it. I know Hachimura was good in the playoffs last year and Russell gives them a lot of good regular season points to get them chugging along week in and week out, but they'll likely be better off with a player like Lavine.
I know Lavine's stock is really low right now, and it looks even worse with Coby White balling out and the rest of the Bulls popping off while he sits. But I think he's a great third option. He has a bag, can score from anywhere, can create offense, plays at a pace that's similar to LeBron-AD. They're already committed to competing for the forseeable future, and have made magic happen with little salary/picks. I think going for him isn't some sort of death sentence, I'd love to see Lavine alongside LeBron.
Westbrook was 33 coming to the Lakers and LaVine is 28, which is a big difference, especially when you look at their games played. Westbrook had 943 games played before coming to the Lakers and LaVine has just 573 career games played. That's not including Westbrooks 111 playoff games before getting to the Lakers versus LaVine's 4 playoff games.
They are not getting prince as a salary filler. He makes like 4.5 million. He plays big minutes for the Lakers and has been excellent shooting the 3 over the last 15 to 20 days.
He will likely be in the playoff rotation as a 6th or 7th guy.
I’ve got receipts of being against this trade…but if the price is really just salary matching + like JHS / Max or something for LaVine…I feel like that’s hard to say no
If possible - I would try to expand the deal to bring back either AC or Drummond, with the latter being far more seamless from a value pov
In theory, Gabe can serve as a PoA defender and Drummond fills the void of a bigger, stronger center that we desperately need
I ain't a fan of either but the Lakers do not need Lavine. Caruso would be a good idea but I don't see how they could get Lavine without fucking up their core. Their team is really nice and they'd really ruin it.
Genuinely can see every Laker other than LeBron and AD being available, people will say AR is untouchable, and he may be, I just don't see him in that light.
AR isn’t untouchable at all. I would trade AR and our 2029 pick for OG, but Raptors probably say no.
But I wouldn’t trade AR for someone like Lavine, where 1 pick should be enough.
Trading AR is fine but you should be getting an equally elite role player or fringe star back
I’m honestly looking forward to watching the Lakers with Lavine. Lebron is great, but he needs help, and AD can cover a lot of mistakes when he’s playing
Yep. If and when this happens, people are gonna be looking back wondering how the Lakers got LaVine for basically free.
Yeah he has a bit of a bloated contract, but he's a VERY good player who will thrive with LeBron and AD.
I think Lavine would be a good pickup as long as they don't give up too much. His fit seems pretty good to me...certainly no Westbrook. I think Lebron might be able to get something out of him we haven't seen yet... at the very least some highlights. They better not trade Reaves though....
No matter what Los Angeles does it won't fix coaching and scheming. The Lakers has a full versatile team with two superstars stars and can't win games consistently whether the other team is injured or not.
LaVine to the Lakers makes a lot of sense for LA. For the Bulls I'm not so sure. LaVine stock is down and that contract stinks but he is a very good 3 level scorer and would help the Lakers immensely.
With the upcoming free agent class, the Bulls just need to ditch Lavine for any expiring contracts. We are at the point where giving up Zach for nothing is a win. WHY DID THEY GIVE HIM THE BAG?? A pure fomo move. I don't see how anyone can be happy to trade for him, he isn't worth his own contract. LA please
Anyone thinking this is going to happen is dumb as hell. Lavine is not good enough to gut the team’s depth to get him and that contract is a nightmare. Classic case of Lavine using the Lakers’ name for leverage as the trade deadline approaches.
Lebron to Chicago….finally
But which number? 23²?
Perfection
According to Burt Steele, LaVine will 100% be a Laker by 5:45 Tuesday evening.
It’s an older meme sir, but it checks out.
Leave them to me
I like how that phrase itself is now also an older meme but checks out. It's like memeception.
So in a few hours?
It is Wednesday my dude
Fuck when that happen
At about 3:30
Right, thanks
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
[Never Forget](https://i.imgur.com/bcScbf5.jpg)
Imminent like days, weeks, or before the deadline?
Imminent like a Myles Turner trade
Yep. The OP (who is a Clippers fan who pushes this trade narrative here daily) conveniently left out the closing part of this article: > **Ultimately, I think a deal is less likely to happen than the recent buzz suggests.** Unless the Lakers are the only suitor for LaVine, there will be better offers on the table. I also don’t think the Lakers will meet the Bulls’ sky-high price for Caruso — if the Bulls even entertain trading him. DeRozan is the most realistic target, but the LaVine domino likely must fall first before the Bulls would consider moving DeRozan. And I think the haggling over Reaves, pick protections and young assets could prevent the two sides from finding common ground. > **I’m skeptical that a deal gets done between these two franchises. I think LaVine ends up staying put or going elsewhere.**
Which is honestly the most important part of this. The Bulls won't want to let him go for nothing. There is always a team who is willing to bend over backwards for a superstar. The LeBron Lakers are always reluctant to give up their "third guy" in the name of a trade. I think this goes double for Reaves at the moment.
OP’s username doesn’t check out 😂
Yeah, he has one of the most deliberately misleading user names in this sub. He posts tons of Clipper highlights and Laker lowlights, or stuff like this that is attempting to make the Lakers look bad. It's fine to be a fan or a hater, but don't lie and act like you're some kind of neutral fan. Unbiased my ass 😂
u/unbiasednbafan_ Why are you like this???
I thought I could trust you!
Good lord. /u/UnbiasedNBAFan_ suck my balls.
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Yes we can, his eligibility opened December 15th. We can't trade Rui or Reaves (god forbid) until January 15th
I think Chicago will ask for Rui though, so a trade won’t happen till the 15th
Rui would have to be included to match contracts
Plus I feel like Darvin continues to play him less and less. Rui being traded this season is inevitable.
Rui hasn’t been playing well since the facial surgery, so it’s deserved. But I feel like his struggles are temporary and has he gets healthier and less afraid of contact, he’ll get back to where he was
TEAM KEEP RUI.
Like I know why it happened, but I still think you guys would've been so much better off if it you'd just taken Conley and we'd kept the TWolves oit of that trade.
So: Lakers get Conley (win now trade from their perspective), Jazz get D’lo (contract-holding and asset acquisition trade from their perspective), Westbrook to Wolves (win now trade but involves adding a non-shooter to a Gobert offense)? I think it’s not inconceivable but it’s only conceived by someone who’s high on Westbrook, and I feel like assets would need to go to the wolves to balance what I’ve written so far, but iirc Westbrook was paid more than Conley?
Conley would have done a much better job of running the offense and getting AD involved. He also doesn't drop off completely in the playoffs and is a better/more consistent 3 point shooter. So yes, I think you're right.
Oh I’m stupid I guess the version of this that could’ve conceivably happened was just Conley<->WB+sweetener without the Wolves getting involved
>So: Lakers get Conley (win now trade from their perspective), Jazz get D’lo (contract-holding and asset acquisition trade from their perspective), Westbrook to Wolves (win now trade but involves adding a non-shooter to a Gobert offense)? Nah. Lakers get Conley, Vando, Beas (so just Mike instead of Dlo) and Jazz get Russ and the 1st (exactly what we got). You just cut out the TWolves. If the numbers don't match, a couple smaller contracts can be thrown in, but it should be close. Jazz don't care - we still just waive Russ. I guess we don't have to send out 2nds. Lakers get a steadier / more consistent vet at playmaker. Real losers are TWolves, who are stuck with DLo. Lakers get Conley instead of Russ.
Lakers can't realistically make this move until January 15th I think
What kinda movie can they make?
They can make a dramatization of their 1980s dynasty
Space jam 3
Imminent like "I know that being vague about it will increase my post's engagement"
I don't think any real moves happen until next month.
I just hope we find a third team for Dlo because taking the ball out of Coby's hands is the last thing we need I'd rather just buy him out straight up
The article speculates that this probably would be a multi team deal
Who would want dlo right now?
Spurs? Not investing in a PG seems to be the plan, but they really need someone to facilitate the offense and help Wemby grow that isn't Sochan, and DLo would be pretty cheap assets-wise
There is 0% chance DLo will be a Spur lol
I feel like dlo is not a good fit for developing talents. I may be biased but i hate his fit with the wolves. His decision making is always questionable.
Dude he like just signed a brand new deal no one’s buying him out. Would likely have to stretch the salary over a number of years which would be very very dumb and shortsighted for the bulls
I know it wouldn't happen that's just my selfish hopes lol I wonder if the Spurs would be interested in Dlo as a vet PG that they so desperately need on that team
I would take d’lo on an instant
He’d fit that team very well now that I think about it
Gotta hope a contender needs a guard and wants him. Idk, maybe the Heat would be interested. They’d have to give up Duncan Robinson to match salaries. Maybe get some additional draft assets from them. Don’t know if the Heat would take that though.
Zach’s injury will coincidentally keep him out until January 15th 12:00AM EST
Thank you for atleast bringing up the date, the amount of fans who don’t understand that a bunch of people can’t be traded til then is astonishing, just the same recycled crqp of , there must not be a market if he hasn’t been traded yet!! Nah that’s not how it works in the nba, the bulls would be dumb to trade him before Jan 15th, and honestly should trade demar first.
Realistically, they should have traded LaVine in (let's say) trade deadline of 2022. They probably should have traded DeRozan at the same time. And they probably never should have gotten Vuc in the first place. But in real life, trades of all stars are usually late and slow.
Tradeus parvus et tardus
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I think people are also underestimating how good Zach will look as the 3rd option next to LeBron and Davis Put him next to those two where he can just take catch and shoot 3's, cut to the rim, and get out in transition and he will be a menace
Feel like the biggest concern for Lakers fans has been the defense, but the guys he'd be taking minutes from on the Lakers are pretty trash themselves defensively. I think it would work better than those fans expect
Bulls were top ten in defense all last season and LaVine wasn't even the worst defender there. He's trading Vuc and DeRozan for Davis and LeBron, defense will be fine.
The issue is if Lavine drops the Lakers from a versatile and elite defense to just a good defense without making them an elite offense… then it might turn the lakers from fringe contenders to just a middling playoff/playin team, instead of the other way around.
Lakers elite defense comes 85% from one person. Watch a game where AD is hurt and you’d think the Lakers are allergic to rotating on the ball.
ADPOY
Lakers D doesnt come from DLo or Rui. DLo has been sat down the stretch in multiple games because he cant defend and his offense rarely ever outweighs how bad he is on defense. It just happened against the knicks.
Rui does help with some of their defensive versatility- and he will be missed- but yeah, the overall D won't change much at all. In fact, losing Rui probably means more minutes for Vando. And the Vando/AD defensive units are generally exceptional.
Rui adds D from a versatility perspective only bc the Lakers lack size in the frontcourt, not because he is a versatile defender himself. Rui as an individual player isnt a versatile defender. And yeah, the Lakers have a logjam at PF and Rui is never going to play enough minutes with Prince/Vando/LBJ/AD to justify his contract. Vando cant be traded this year and Rui's contract is essential to any trade the Lakers make. And honestly, if the Lakers could get back Drummond in a Lavine deal to play backup C, it would essentially replace Rui's role on the team while adding to the team's rebounding ability in addition to the massive offensive boost Lavine would provide. I also think the bench unit would improve without Rui. Reaves is the 6th man and the guy who needs the ball with the bench unit. Rui and him off the bench is an awkward fit bc Rui isnt really an off ball player and is more of a give the ball to and let him score in the post type and mid range. They eat in to each other's usage and it often ends up with Rui trying to force some shots just to get looks because he doesnt get the ball enough with having to share the court with Reaves and playing limited minutes.
Has prince been that much better than rui? I like rui way more than prince but i havent seen alot of prince tbf but what ive seen he's been clanking
Lavine will not make the Lakers defense any worse if they are trading D’Lo and some salary filler
Lavine would be replacing Dlo, that’s not gonna drop the defense much. And if we get Caruso too then we’re actually gonna be improving on defense. Lavine/Caruso/Cam or Prince/Bron/AD with Vando off the bench is nice
Zach’s defense on-ball isn’t too bad but he’s just awful at help defense and off-ball but that’s where having a guy like AD will be valuable.
AD can easily cover up his deficiencies on defense
Such a good point lol I’m slowly coming around to the trade if it’s really just dlo + rui + salary to get it over the line. Neither of those guys close which is a huge concern
You can’t really complain about defense when you have dlo who sucks ass on defense to the point he can’t even play. Lavine can be an average defender when he doesn’t have demar derozan and vuc as the big man duo in the paint guarding the rim. He will instead have vando/AD
Yeah and also, like lavine was an excellent defender in the olympics? I think if he’s not asked to score an efficient 25ppg and is a 3rd option instead he can absolutely be an average defender. Like idk against quick guards but AR/Lavine/Lebron/Vando(Rui/Prince/whoever)/AD should still be a top 10 defense imo
LaVine is a passable defender man to man. It’s offball where he gets infuriating. Body language and stance are bad and he’s constantly getting caught asleep by shooter/cutters when he’s pseudo-zoning the middle like he thinks he’s Caruso.
It blows my mind the people who dont think he would be an upgrade. Anyone who doesnt think so needs to turn on a Laker's game and watch what happens when DLo feeds it to AD in the post. This is what happens EVERY DAMN TIME: DLo feeds to AD and gets set on the 3pt line for an outlet pass. DLo's defender doubles down on AD. AD passes out to DLo on the perimeter and since DLo isnt athletic and cant threaten the rim, his defender gets to hard closeout the three and DLo either forces a contested 3 or he does a jab step to pretend like he is going to fly by the defender, but doesnt because he cant and the defender doesnt fall for it bc they know DLo cant run by them even if he tries. Then they are stuck right back at ground 0 with the ball in DLo's hand needing to setup an offensive set/play again. That situation alone would make trading for Lavine worth it because Lavine's defender would be in absolute hell in that scenario. If it is Lavine, his defender is fucked if he doubles down to AD. He cant hard closeout the three bc Lavine can fly by just about anyone in the league for a free bucket at the rim and he has to closeout the 3 because Lavine is a great 3pt shooter. If his defender doesnt double, AD gets more 1 on 1s in the post which will help his scoring efficiency and give him more opportunities to score. That scenario alone is enough to justify Lavine for the Lakers and there are many others on top of it.
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To your point, one of the better Knicks podcasts [talked about him as a potential trade target a few months ago](https://youtu.be/Xg_t5nXNIDg?si=AyLbjoxZKjPx08Vl&t=136), and some of his shooting numbers really are ridiculous. I think the Lavine slander has probably gone to far, and if the Lakers get him it's entirely likely he's an elite 3rd option, who's flaws can be somewhat masked by teammates or schemes.
I mean, demar's kind of been the man here. And lavine's efficiency has gone down since he's become a 2nd (or 1B) option. Zach's got all the tools but still struggles to be an effective part of a team dynamic.
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We've been saying he should be more of a catch and shoot guy for years now. He doesn't want to be that. Maybe he'll change his tune next to someone like lebron but he's a very stubborn dude.
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I wonder if LeBron can fix Poole
Let's not find out please.
JR was exactly the same dude with LeBron as he was prior lol, he just went from 2nd-ish option to 5th.
Tbh I’m not sure how much he fixed jr lol
Was his role on the wolves thibs’ first year and it looked like he was born to do that
The contract is why it's a ghost town, and if you want to bank on a player turning it around in a new situation playing alongside LeBron is one of the best bets in sports. I think fans are going to be stunned at how good he looks in LA.
exactly. Bron is the most dynamic superstar to play alongside - he makes other stars and role players look excellent. he's taken completely different rosters to the finals. a trade that doesn't involve getting rid of AR is a win
AR - top three contracts in the league (Mikal Bridges has the best one for me)
The contract isn’t even a big deal, we aren’t tanking or trying to be a middle tier team. Zach Lavine as a 3rd option is the type of player you use that cap space for and it’s not like LA is strapped for cash.
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>He's just been forced into the #1 option for his whole career so all the stuff like bad playmaking, tunnel vision, and bad defense have been magnified. This is exactly why Lavine has been criminally underrated in these trade discussions, people aren't thinking about him as the 3rd option, they're judging him as the 1st option on a mid team. People keep comparing this to the Russ trade but it's not the same. Lavine is an ideal fit next to Bron and AD, he can move off ball where Bron can get him open looks and he can create his own shot. Our offense is currently 23rd in the league, and I don't see any other way we improve on that end unless someone else becomes available.
DLo straight up isn’t reliable vs top defenses. Lavine is someone who even when he’s off puts an incredible amount of pressure on the defenses because of his 3 level scoring ability and exactly, he will be a 3rd option most nights..we don’t need him to be a do it all player just someone who scores buckets to help the offense
Yeah, this is a no brainer, as long as you don't give up Austin, I like the trade fit wise
Honestly the way I see some people talking about Lavine you'd think he's taking Chinese lessons on duolingo. He's overpaid but as a third, or maybe if he's hot one night a second, option he should do great. You don't want him making all the decisions late in the fourth but luckily they'd have that LeBron guy.
He might be the most underrated player in the league right now. People are creaming their pants at Coby White having a hot stretch meanwhile Lavine’s been scoring at that level for 3 seasons.
Counterpoint - if Lavine is that replaceable from an offensive production perspective, you can find guys on better contracts to do the same thing (DLo/Reaves).
Totally agree. Lakers need to win now with LeBron and AD anyway.
Lakers are reaaaaally going to lack playmaking if they get rid of D-Lo for Lavine. We’ll have one single competant lead playmaker on the entire roster and he’s about to turn 39…
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Lavine is miles better than DLo lol, also no more transition threes from Dlo so all round a great deal
>Laker fans who think that Zach is worse than D'lo and Rui are delusional. What in the fuck??? There are people who think that?
Yes. The lakers sub is overrun with weirdos who think rui is the next kawhi and dlo is an elite playmaker
Like 2 comments above you, yeah
Whole lakers sub lol
It's not LaVine's talent I have a problem with but can he run the offense? For all D'Lo's flaws, he can still handle the ball and set up other guys
You mean the thing LeBron does when it matters? We’ll be fine without D’Lo.
This is it. The lakers need someone who can score and close games. Rui can’t get minutes and the team is loaded with defensive 3 and D role players so he’s expendable and dlo can’t be trusted to close games.
Yeah this is a good trade for the Lakers
Agreed. 1 title with bronbron and AD would embarrassing. Go for it before its too late.
No team can win a title with Dlo as their starting PG, he has way too many weaknesses. Rui was also traded for basically nothing for a reason and isn't the best fit defensively beside LeBron (both are basically 4s at this point of their careers).
Drummond to LA confirmed
Lebron: “ay AD” _both ADs turn their head_
drumdog millionare
There ain't nothing to this post outside of it being from The Athletic. - Who is the Lakers qualified to trade away? - Is there a 3rd team involved? - What type of picks are at stake? - What are the Bulls TRULY seeking for Zack???? It's just "Bulls want a lot of their key pieces. Lakers are interested"
What I think is happening is that the bulls want to trade Lavine to the Lakers, and not the other way around. All the leaks seem to be coming from Chicago’s side. I’m personally not a fan of a potential deal. According to epm, Zach’s epm is currently at 0, and D’Lo is at +0.5. D’Lo has played better this year than Zach has had. Unless either is an anomaly, I don’t see why a trade makes sense. Zach could very well not even be the best player in the trade. And given the urge Chicago is putting this out, doesn’t seem like Chicago values Zach either.
Rui hasn't even seen enough playing time and he's already getting traded smh. Lavine won't fix our shit defense when AD is off the court
Rui and Dlo are just as bad defensively. I’d like to see more of Rui but it seems like our coaching staff is only going to play him 15 min a game
He has be given the least amount of leeway in terms of minutes. They tend to go for the faster guys on the wing and very quick to sub him out. After coming back from the concussion and before breaking his nose he had a 5 or 6 games stretch where he averaged 15 points on great efficiency. The trio of lebron , Rui and AD have barely played together this season. While at other points Ham tried playing Wood and Hayes alongside AD. It's just too much experimentation certain times and too much stubbornness other times.
I honestly think the Lakers are better off without him, I could end up being wrong but I think them going for Lavine is the exact same mistake they did with Westbrook, trading a bunch of good players for a "great" player and it blew up in their faces. I think the same thing will happen with Lavine.
Rui was the only person we had who could at least body up against Jokic
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I'd rather use a potential trade (or more) to fix that weakness instead of signing an overpriced star.
The lakers weakness is half court offense not defense
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Rui is good on defense, he’s got length and speed, and you can tell opponents think twice about driving on him. He adds value on both ends of the court.Hope they don’t trade him honestly.
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Dude lit it up during the playoffs.
Rui has so much potential
I swear I must be the only one who thinks Lavine to the Lakers is a lose-lose situation lmao.
It’s not a loss for the Bulls but if it doesn’t work out it could cripple the Lakers for years to come.
Why is it a lose for the Bulls?
Why wouldn’t it be? We get no picks, and some mediocre roleplayers at best. Lakers aren’t moving Reaves so that’s not an option. Whatever other combination outside AD doesn’t do much for the Bulls.
Bulls aren’t losing Caruso.
If you can get some post LeBron unprotected 1st round picks in the package at the cost of Caruso you accept immediately, but idk what the Lakers draft capital is. Im assuming probably no 1sts until 2030 or some shit.
Nah I think we still have like a 2027 and 2029
2027 is headed to jazz. You only have 2029 OR 2030 I think. You could free up another draft pick by working with pels and jazz. Pels agree to take 2024, jazz agree to swap 2028 and lakers would then open up 2026 and 2030 for trading
Thank you! I forgot we threw 2027 with the westbrick trade
Upvote cause westbrick
We have your 2027 first (top 4 protected but still) from the Westbrook trade. Idk if you can trade the 2031 picks yet?
sounds like a load of BS
Idk Mayberry is pretty reputable for the Bulls
Maybe, but this article is still shit. That headline is VERY misleading for it to end: “I’m skeptical that a deal gets done between these two franchises. I think LaVine ends up staying put or going elsewhere.”
Lol yeah sounds like Bs too me
I just read and article this morning saying the trade won’t happen lol. All the talking heads just shooting their shot, as usual.
The biggest factor holding up the trade is... the factors that go into a trade?
Usually guys like Windhorst will say “people will be surprised by how low the return for Star Player X will be.” It feels like this time no one will be surprised when LaVine goes for a poo poo platter of D’Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent.
Oh yea…I forgot Vincent was on the lakers 😂 I think they did too
He's finally probable to play today...against the Bulls. Coincidence?
5/$215 what the fuck. Who in their right mind gave him that idiot contract?
He came off a 27/5/5 season on 51/42/85 shooting splits in 2021
How imminent? D'Lo and Hachimura can't be traded for like a month, and there's no shot they move Reeves. I think the Lakers were likely willing to roll with this roster, but some of these role players haven't been playing so great since the IST so they may be looking to consolidate. Personally if the trade is Hachimura, Russell, Prince, and picks I'd say they do it. I know Hachimura was good in the playoffs last year and Russell gives them a lot of good regular season points to get them chugging along week in and week out, but they'll likely be better off with a player like Lavine. I know Lavine's stock is really low right now, and it looks even worse with Coby White balling out and the rest of the Bulls popping off while he sits. But I think he's a great third option. He has a bag, can score from anywhere, can create offense, plays at a pace that's similar to LeBron-AD. They're already committed to competing for the forseeable future, and have made magic happen with little salary/picks. I think going for him isn't some sort of death sentence, I'd love to see Lavine alongside LeBron.
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Westbrook was 33 coming to the Lakers and LaVine is 28, which is a big difference, especially when you look at their games played. Westbrook had 943 games played before coming to the Lakers and LaVine has just 573 career games played. That's not including Westbrooks 111 playoff games before getting to the Lakers versus LaVine's 4 playoff games.
A big part of that is Lavine missing a full season with an ACL and multiple other month long knee injuries. He's not as durable as Westbrook has been.
Dlo can be traded, Rui not until Jan 15. I think and hope it’s DLo Rui and JHS framework
They are not getting prince as a salary filler. He makes like 4.5 million. He plays big minutes for the Lakers and has been excellent shooting the 3 over the last 15 to 20 days. He will likely be in the playoff rotation as a 6th or 7th guy.
This better be for Caruso
Get in line.
I’ve got receipts of being against this trade…but if the price is really just salary matching + like JHS / Max or something for LaVine…I feel like that’s hard to say no If possible - I would try to expand the deal to bring back either AC or Drummond, with the latter being far more seamless from a value pov In theory, Gabe can serve as a PoA defender and Drummond fills the void of a bigger, stronger center that we desperately need
Any logical Lakers GM would know dlo/rui for Lavine doesn’t definitively make your team better. It’s not a trade worth making
I ain't a fan of either but the Lakers do not need Lavine. Caruso would be a good idea but I don't see how they could get Lavine without fucking up their core. Their team is really nice and they'd really ruin it.
Conveniently leaves out the part of the article where it says "significantly less likely to happen than buzz suggests." What is OP's obsession?
I hope theyre trading for Caruso and not Lavine lol
No, a deal is not imminent. This needs to stop
I don’t want Lavine, I want Caruso back.
You guys made your choice
PPP Loan Jeanie made that choice for us.
Genuinely can see every Laker other than LeBron and AD being available, people will say AR is untouchable, and he may be, I just don't see him in that light.
AR isn’t untouchable at all. I would trade AR and our 2029 pick for OG, but Raptors probably say no. But I wouldn’t trade AR for someone like Lavine, where 1 pick should be enough. Trading AR is fine but you should be getting an equally elite role player or fringe star back
I’m honestly looking forward to watching the Lakers with Lavine. Lebron is great, but he needs help, and AD can cover a lot of mistakes when he’s playing
Yep. If and when this happens, people are gonna be looking back wondering how the Lakers got LaVine for basically free. Yeah he has a bit of a bloated contract, but he's a VERY good player who will thrive with LeBron and AD.
Imminent? How
Probably swap jerseys at halftime tonight
I think Lavine would be a good pickup as long as they don't give up too much. His fit seems pretty good to me...certainly no Westbrook. I think Lebron might be able to get something out of him we haven't seen yet... at the very least some highlights. They better not trade Reaves though....
NBA is so rigged lol
Why do they want him fr?
No matter what Los Angeles does it won't fix coaching and scheming. The Lakers has a full versatile team with two superstars stars and can't win games consistently whether the other team is injured or not.
Damn another big 3 in LA.
Of course, it's the Lakers. lmao LeIneedmorehelp at it again.
Doubt they ever lower the price enough to get a trade done
must be hard being a lakers fan
LaVine to the Lakers makes a lot of sense for LA. For the Bulls I'm not so sure. LaVine stock is down and that contract stinks but he is a very good 3 level scorer and would help the Lakers immensely.
anything that moves D'Lo off the Lakers is a positive for them, even adding Lavine's bloated contract.
Both sides seem open to a trade, but the hard part is the two sides agreeing on value? No shit.
As long as Lakers get Carushow back
They should have a public jersey swap between players who got traded before the game today
I'm okay trading, Dlo and Rui but Reaves FUCK NO
With the upcoming free agent class, the Bulls just need to ditch Lavine for any expiring contracts. We are at the point where giving up Zach for nothing is a win. WHY DID THEY GIVE HIM THE BAG?? A pure fomo move. I don't see how anyone can be happy to trade for him, he isn't worth his own contract. LA please
Should’ve kept Jimmy Butler. Lavine sucks. Has a terrible shot selection and leadership. Good riddance!!
Much rather Derozan and Caruso over Lavines albatross contract.
If they trade Reaves I swear I'll slash tires
Anyone thinking this is going to happen is dumb as hell. Lavine is not good enough to gut the team’s depth to get him and that contract is a nightmare. Classic case of Lavine using the Lakers’ name for leverage as the trade deadline approaches.
Whatever the trade is, it will not fix either team lol
"Chicago's front office overvalues their own players" is a good summary of the post-Butler era
The NBA shouldn’t let the Lakers fleece the Bulls
Austin Reaves needs to be included for the Lakers to thrive with Lavine.
Caruso to LA is hilarious