Zach LaVine Shouldn't Be Traded By Bulls Amid Lakers, Knicks, Mavs Rumors At Deadline

The Chicago Bulls of the 2022-23 season may be an underperforming bunch whose core has never really clicked, but that does not mean the team should be eager to sell off its pieces as the NBA trade deadline approaches Thursday.

Especially not Zach LaVine, the franchise's star shooting guard, despite a report from ESPN's Jamal Collier that there is clear interest from the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks in acquiring his services.

Luckily for the team and its fans, the report also states the team has shown little to no interest in moving LaVine, proof positive that the Bulls are still fighting for a playoff berth and are not yet ready to blow the team up and start over.

Nor should they.

LaVine did not play up to the standard he has set for himself earlier in the season, something he expressed to reporters last week when asked about his All-Star Game snub: "I didn't feel like I played at an All-Star level at the beginning of the season. That's coming back off of injury. I started slow and then started picking it up. I am where I'm supposed to be at. I know who I am as a player. I think the league knows that, too"

LaVine has shaken off an underwhelming start to the season to average 23.6 points per game, 4.8 rebounds, just over four assists and 46.4 percent from the field.

Perhaps more important than his play on the court is his leadership and the understanding that individual accolades like the All-Star Game are secondary to the real goal at hand.

"I think we need to be in a better position for us to have two or three guys in the All-Star game," LaVine added. "I think we're sitting 10th right now. That's not good. I think bigger picture you're not worried about All-Star, you're trying to get your team back in the playoff picture."

That does not happen without LaVine, and Bulls management knows it. There is a reason the team, despite underperforming, has not pulled the proverbial trigger on sending its core players elsewhere in return for players or draft picks.

LaVine is and has been the glue holding things together and, while DeMar DeRozan is clearly a better and more dynamic player right now, it is the veteran point guard who has spent the last six seasons establishing himself as the heart and soul of the organization.

The Bulls are currently in the ninth seed, three games out from a playoff spot and 12 back from top-seeded Boston. The Eastern Conference has three of the best teams in the entire NBA, and making a splash in the postseason will not be easy, especially given Chicago's inconsistency and lack of continuous chemistry,

Anything can happen in the playoffs once you get in, though.

To do so, the team will have to rely on LaVine, and Vice President of Basketball Operations Artūras Karnišovas knows that. It is why other playoff hopefuls are eyeing LaVine and would likely give up considerable picks and pieces to acquire him.

Luckily for the Bulls organization and its fans, at least in this regard, Karnišovas has remained steadfast in his commitment to continuity. He wants the core players to jell, succeed and win. That cannot happen if they, especially the $215 million-dollar man, are not there.