We’re a month and a half into the 2022-23 NBA season, and there is no shortage of teams who have played well below expectations up to this point.
Any conversation for “biggest disappointments” has to start with the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat (last season’s Eastern Conference runner-ups), the Dallas Mavericks and even the Chicago Bulls — one of the top surprise teams of 2021-22.
Led by All-Star DeMar DeRozan and standout Zach LaVine, the Bulls finished with a 46-36 record a year ago to claim the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. But Billy Donovan’s group has struggled to recapture last season’s magic, as they enter play on Friday with a 9-12 record.
Speaking on a recent edition of his podcast, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons offered three trade proposals for the Bulls to begin their rebuild. One of the three suggestions? Sending Zach LaVine to the New York Knicks.
Here’s what Simmons had to say (transcriptions via Josh Buckhalter of Heavy.com).
“Trade LaVine to the Knicks. LaVine’s coming off the knee injury in May, he doesn’t look the same. But, if you’re the Knicks, you’re like, ‘Well, we would’ve signed him for the max in the summer so we’ll get him anyway’. So do (Obi) Toppin, and (expiring contracts), and maybe make them take back the (Evan) Fournier trade, and maybe do a top-4 protected first next year…and get Zach LaVine and roll the dice that his knee will be fine.”
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Trading LaVine will be easier said than done. There’s no denying his All-Star-level talents, but as Simmons noted, LaVine is recovering from knee surgery that he underwent in May. LaVine also recently agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $215 million, so the Knicks (and any other team, for that matter), would be taking a massive risk in trading for him.
But the trade idea does make sense. The Bulls are good enough to make the playoffs with this core, but they’re miles behind top Eastern Conference clubs in the Heat, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers.
That said, the race for the bottom playoff seeds in the East is wide-wide open. If the Bulls decide they want to remain competitive and continue building around DeRozan and LaVine, they’ll remain in the hunt for a playoff berth.
Needless to say, it’ll be interesting to see how things play out in The Windy City leading up to the trade deadline.
