For one - I am not necessarily advocating for the LaVine trade given recent news. But I went into the trade machine to see what could be likely. As a reminder, most of our recently signed players like DLO + RUI cannot be traded until Dec 15th.

DRAFT PICK SITUATION

Our 2024/2025 1st round pick cannot be traded until Pelicans decide which one they will take from the AD deal. Pelicans have the right to DEFER the rights to our 2024 pick till 2025. Because of the Sepian rule, we cannot trade our 1st round pick in back to back drafts. If we finish better than the Pelicans (which at the moment, is a toss up), they could end up taking our 2025 pick instead of 2024. The reason why waiting till the end of the season to do a major trade makes sense is because we technically can’t trade two future 1st round picks until we know what the Pelicans are going to do.

2026 pick own (can’t trade until Pelicans decide if they’re gonna swap from AD deal)

2027 pick owed to Jazz (traded in Vanderbilt/Russ deal)

2028 pick own

2029 pick own

So theoretically, if we wait till the end of this season, we could trade 2027 1st AND 2029 first (if Pelicans take our 2026 pick). Below are potential trade packages I configured that match salary (or very close).

I went into this exercise thinking that the untradeable guys are AD, Bron, and AR (I could be wrong on AR, but he’s on such a good contract that it’s tough to imagine the Lakers wanting to trade him).

LaVine - LaVine is on the 2nd year of a 5 year +$40m contract

Because of his contract, I really don’t think LaVine is going to cost an arm and a leg in terms of value. If I were the Bulls, I’d likely look for some expiring and some valuable 1st round picks in return or solid young players with a lightly protected pick if possible.

Package #1 -DLO, Rui, Jalen Hood Schifino (JHS) + Lakers 1st (probably with light protections)

Package #2 - DLO, Gabe Vincent, JHS + Lakers 1st (probably with light protections)

Package #3 - Reaves, DLO + Lakers 1st (with strong protections)

*After thinking about this more, I think giving up Reaves for Lavine would not be all that bad, as they both seem redundant. I can see a closing 5 being Lavine, Prince, Bron, Rui, AD (more size, spacing, and athleticism) - I think this raises our ceiling and chances.

*Reaves, Lavine, Prince/Rui, Bron, AD seems like a much worse defensive team with Lavine + Reaves in the backcourt.

DeRozan - DeRozan is on the final year of his 3 year contract at $28m per year

Because DeRozan is essentially an expiring, I don’t think he will cost THAT much. Especially for someone of his age and his limited defensive ability.

Package #1 - DLO, JHS + 1st round pick (highly protected), or a few seconds

Package #2 - Vanderbilt, DLO, + protected first + salary filler for Derozan

*Don’t really like any of the packages for a player like DeRozan, since it will likely require us giving up our 1st round pick. If we can get it done with seconds, I can see it being a high upside play. Can’t really see him in the closing lineup given our defensive issues, unless he replaced Reaves (which I doubt we’d give up for him).

Caruso - Caruso is on the 3rd year of a 4 year contract at $9m per year

Package #1 - JHS, Max Christie + Vanderbilt (+ lightly protected first)

*I think Caruso will at minimum, cost us a first round pick (might have to be unprotected) given he has 2 years left and he is super valuable. The thing I keep going back to is that he seems a bit redundant with Prince (is he that much of an upgrade?)

Again, not advocating for any of these trades - just spent too much time in the trade machine lol.