A 3-Team Trade To Get Lavine to Lakers, Tip off Bulls Rebuild, Push OKC All-in
We're now just over two weeks from this season's NBA trade deadline, and the rumor mill is churning every bit as hard as you might expect.
That's especially true for the Los Angeles Lakers in particular, as they continue to underwhelm and are teetering on the on the edge of the play-in tournament.
With each passing week, it feels more like they need to make a move to to shake things up and solidify a top-10 spot in the West.
The Chicago Bulls, meanwhile, are in a similar spot in the East, but they don't have players like LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the roster to necessitate win-now moves. Now two and a half seasons into the Zach LaVine-DeMar DeRozan-Nikola Vučević era, it seems abundantly clear Chicago needs a reset.
And then there's the Oklahoma City Thunder, which are primed to jump into the mix on just about any trade thanks to their seemingly endless trove of future picks. In this specific case, the Lakers and Bulls both have players who can help address one of the team's few weaknesses.
The Deal
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Before we dive into the explanations for why each team should make this trade, as has become tradition with these three- and four-team trade articles, let's take a look at the details at a glance.
Chicago Bulls Receive: D'Angelo Russell, Dāvis Bertāns, Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 2024 first-round pick from OKC (via LAC), a 2026 second-round pick from OKC (via GSW) and a 2029 first-round pick from L.A.
Chicago Bulls Lose: Zach LaVine and Andre Drummond
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: Zach LaVine and Aaron Wiggins
Los Angeles Lakers Lose: D'Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino and a 2029 first-round pick
Oklahoma City Thunder Receive: Rui Hachimura and Andre Drummond
Oklahoma City Thunder Lose: Aaron Wiggins, Dāvis Bertāns, a 2024 first-round pick (via LAC) and a 2026 second-round pick (via GSW)
Feel free to quibble over some of the young players or the number of picks involved. As always, it's the central framework that's most important. And as you'll see below, that makes plenty of sense for all three teams.
Bulls Start to Turn the Page
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Chicago Bulls Receive: D'Angelo Russell, Dāvis Bertāns, Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 2024 first-round pick from OKC (via LAC), a 2026 second-round pick from OKC (via GSW) and a 2029 first-round pick from L.A.
Chicago Bulls Lose: Zach LaVine and Andre Drummond
As noted earlier, the Bulls have had LaVine, DeRozan and Vučević on the books for over two seasons. All three have shared the floor for over 3,000 minutes, and Chicago is minus-2.8 points per 100 possessions in those minutes.
That's awful.
And when you consider the fact that those three are 28, 34 and 33, respectively, it's hard to deny that it's time for a fresh start. This deal at least turns them in that direction. Separate trades to bring in additional assets or young players for DeRozan and Vučević would help too, but let's focus on this one for now.
Russell and Bertāns are essentially salary filler. The former has a player option for next season, but he could possibly be flipped in another deal. And even if he can't, a contract expiring at $18.7 million next season is far more manageable than LaVine's, which has a $49 million player option in 2026-27. Bertāns, meanwhile, is under contract for next season, but only $5.3 million is guaranteed.
In terms of the players involved, Hood-Schifino probably has the best chance to stick around Chicago beyond 2024-25. While he hasn't really had any flashes of rotation-player upside with the Lakers, he's only 20 years old and has good size (6'6" with a 6'10" wingspan) for a guard.
Obviously, this deal is mostly about the draft compensation for Chicago. While the Bulls might want a little more for LaVine after seeing the Toronto Raptors get three firsts for Pascal Siakam, this is a pretty decent haul for a 2 with a significant injury history and little to no impact on winning for the past couple years.
Lakers Go All-In (Again)
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Los Angeles Lakers Receive: Zach LaVine and Aaron Wiggins
Los Angeles Lakers Lose: D'Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino and a 2029 first-round pick
Yes, the Bulls have struggled to win LaVine's minutes, and he's missed plenty of time with a variety of injuries over the years.
But he played 77 games as recently as last season, and you could argue he's been overextended on a Bulls team that has often needed him to be a No. 1 option.
For the Lakers, LaVine would undoubtedly be the third guy. With opposing teams having to focus the bulk of their defensive attention on LeBron James and Anthony Davis, LaVine would likely see an efficiency boost as someone attacking the closeouts of lesser defenders and getting more catch-and-shoot opportunities.
Even with all the nitpicking this article has done on him to this point, it's easy to see how he'd push the Lakers closer to title contention than Russell, Hachimura and Hood-Schifino are.
Since the start of 2019-20, LaVine has averaged 24.9 points, 4.4 assists and 2.9 threes with a 38.7 three-point percentage and a well-above-average true shooting percentage. Again, those numbers came from a 1-to-1B type of scoring role.
As a supplement to LeBron and AD, the volume would go down, but LaVine could dominate defensive schemes scrambled by those two superstars.
Getting Aaron Wiggins in the deal is no small thing either. He's a 6'6" wing with a 6'11" wingspan who's made 41.9 percent of his three-point attempts since the start of last season.
Three-and-D has long been a good archetype with which to surround LeBron, and Wiggins has a chance to be just that.
Thunder Get Bigger
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Oklahoma City Thunder Receive: Rui Hachimura and Andre Drummond
Oklahoma City Thunder Lose: Aaron Wiggins, Dāvis Bertāns, a 2024 first-round pick (via LAC) and a 2026 second-round pick (via GSW)
Thunder fans might understandably see the framework of this deal and wonder why they're giving up the most draft compensation and not getting the best player back.
But OKC has a whopping 10 first-rounders from other teams coming their way between now and 2029. That's not even counting their own firsts and the dozens (yes, dozens) of second-round picks they could potentially make over that time.
NBA teams literally don't have enough roster spots to accommodate the number of picks the Thunder have. They can justify parting ways with a couple, especially for a return like this.
Hachimura hasn't really leapt off the screen in many games this season, but he's two inches and 30 pounds bigger than Wiggins. He's had a slightly higher rebounding rate over the course of his career, too.
On a team with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, Hachimura could pretty easily slot into a role similar to the one he's played throughout his time with the Lakers.
The bigger get here might be Drummond, though.
The 30-year-old former All-Star wouldn't make a ton of sense for a rebuilding Bulls squad, but he could be a game-changer off the bench for OKC. Chet Holmgren's shot-blocking and rim-protection addressed one Thunder weakness, but he's slight and far from a great rebounder right now.
The team is bottom-five in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage this season.
Even in just 15-20 minutes a game, Drummond could have a serious influence on those ranks. The Bulls are currently snaring almost 40 percent of their own misses when Drummond is on the floor.
Wiggins, Bertāns' contract, one first and one second isn't too much for all of the above, and SGA, Williams and Holmgren are already good enough to justify win-now moves like this.
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