Bulls: The Chicago Bulls have looked about as bad as it could get this season. There's a clear disconnect on both sides of the floor, no effort is being put in, and players like Patrick Williams and Dalen Terry have shown inane flashes of potential, but are consistently shut down by the style of Donovan and options in LaVine and Derozan. And now, Lavine is described as having an 'issue' with the team and front office, and if there's anything we've learned over the past years, it means that the player will walk or ask out. So the Bulls decide to hit the reset after seeing no way out, and cash out Lavine for, essentially 2 FRPs, some potential in Jaden Hardy, and salary filler. It's not a good package for what they've invested into this team, but it's a trade they need to make for new direction, and it helps them reset the ship and move in a new direction.
Mavericks: Well, the Mavs are another team in a weird state. Being as mediocre as possible, it's clear that Luka needs relief in Dallas, and needs a secondary option to score the ball and bring some flair to the team. Zach LaVine is, or maybe was, the perfect player to bring that relief. He's looked pretty bad this season, but he's shown an affinity to bounce back from injury in some time, and I have no doubt he'll do the same in a short time. He brings excitement to that backcourt with Luka to score the ball and bring some individualism to, honestly, quite a one-dimensional team right now. Yes, you're mortgaging your future a bit here, but this is a great market opportunity to not only get a secondary star in Lavine, but also to get off contracts; and the money could be used in FA to attack the playoffs further. They also get their forward rotation thinned out and can balance out the rotation more with the addition of Dragic.
Expected Line-Ups:
Bulls:
PG: Alex Caruso / Ayo Dosunmu / Coby White
SG: DeMar Derozan / Tim Hardaway Jr / Jaden Hardy
SF: Patrick Williams / Dalen Terry
PF: Derrick Jones Jr / Javonte Green
C: Nikola Vucevic / Andre Drummond / Dwight Powell
Mavericks:
PG: Luka Doncic / Goran Dragic / Kemba Walker
SG: Zach LaVine / Spencer Dinwiddie / Frank Ntilikina
SF: Dorian Finney-Smith / Reggie Bullock / Josh Green
PF: Maxi Kleber / Christian Wood / Davis Bertans
C: Javale McGee / Tony Bradley