According to long-time NBA insider Marc Stein and his newsletter, “The Stein Line,” the Detroit Pistons “maintain interest” in a potential trade for Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine. The Bulls’ division rival has been the worst team in the league this year, but they continue to strive for improvement rather than reentering a rebuild.
Adding LaVine to the mix would give the Pistons a serious scoring punch, and Stein also noted that “talk between the sides, sources say, have by no means gone dormant.” With the salaries of Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Harris, and James Wiseman on the roster, the Pistons, in theory, have the pieces to make the move work.
That said, LaVine trade rumors have been weird this season. While the Bulls continue to look to trade him, other squads around the league look at him as a negative asset, and in regard to the Pistons, Chicago may want too much in return.
According to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, “Chicago appears to be locked in on a package involving Bojan Bogdanović and one of Detroit’s blue-chippers for LaVine and his hefty contract.” By blue-chippers, Edwards is referring to Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, and Jalen Duren, none of whom the Pistons are interested in trading right now.
Chicago has reportedly been focused on trying to trade LaVine all season, but at that asking price, it seems highly unlikely that they will find a suitor, especially before the trade deadline. Because of that, he could still be on the team past February 8.
