Lakers Rumors: Zach LaVine Trade Interest 'TBD'; LA Focused on 'Internal Improvement'

While there may be some sort of mutual interest between Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine and the Los Angeles Lakers, the latter may be in a holding pattern for a while as they decide to pull the trigger on a trade, according to NBA inside Marc Stein.

Stein reported that the Lakers' interest is "TBD" at best over whether or not to acquire the All-Star guard as they are a bit restricted by roster and cap restraints.

LaVine reportedly has the Lakers as one of his preferred trade destinations along with the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers, according to Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer.

Some of those restrictions are due to the Los Angeles' huge offseason in which they made a quite a number of new additions and retained key pieces. Los Angeles can't trade Austin Reaves or Rui Hachimura—who it re-signed—until Jan. 15.

It also wouldn't be able to include D'Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood in any trades until after Dec. 15. So, that's a big number of the Lakers' best assets that aren't available for a while.

That's not even mentioning the hefty price tag that comes with a LaVine acquisition. The 28-year-old is only in the second year of a five-year, $215 million contract.

Instead of trying to add an immediate third star, it appears the Lakers are opting focus on "internal improvement" within the organization, per Stein. That includes getting Jarred Vanderbilt and Vincent back on the floor.

Vanderbilt has missed the entire season thus far while Vincent has played in just four games as they are dealing with injuries.

Los Angeles is currently 8-6 and the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference.

As for LaVine, he's in the middle of another solid season, averaging 21.9 points per game to go along with 5.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists for a struggling Bulls squad.