Zach LaVine Rumors: Lakers, Knicks, Heat, Mavs Likely Suitors If Bulls Trade Star

The Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks are among the expected suitors for Zach LaVine, if the Chicago Bulls decide to trade the All-Star guard before the Feb. 9 deadline.

Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported the four playoff contenders have "consistently been mentioned by league personnel as holding motivations to land LaVine."

LaVine signed a five-year, $215.2 million contract this offseason but has struggled in living up to expectations. He's averaging 23.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game this season. While those are solid numbers, LaVine was not named to the All-Star team for the first time since 2020 and has seen his scoring drop for the second straight season.

Fischer mentioned there remains some concern around the league regarding the status of LaVine's surgically repaired left knee. He previously suffered a torn ACL in the same knee in 2017 and underwent arthroscopic surgery last May before hitting unrestricted free agency.

The Bulls were comfortable enough with LaVine's health to offer him a max contract, but the team has underwhelmed. Chicago sits 23-27 heading into Thursday night's game against the Charlotte Hornets and would fail to even reach the play-in tournament if the season ended today.

With a roster stuck in the NBA's proverbial no man's land, it's fair to wonder if the Bulls should consider trading LaVine and begin a full-scale rebuild. It's clear this roster composition is not going to result in a contender, and leading scorer DeMar DeRozan is 33 years old. The time might be now to ship out both DeRozan and LaVine and start fresh.

That said, concerns about LaVine's health and his downtick in scoring may cause teams to not offer a superstar-worthy haul in trade talks.