Chicago Bulls Reportedly Wanted Huge Return in Potential Former UCLA Star Zach Lavine Trade

Where will the former Bruin be playing next season?

The UCLA program has been a staple of college basketball for as long as anyone can remember. It has seen plenty of star-level talents come through and they have won a lot because of it.

It’s a proud program that is always in the news, no matter what the team’s record is. Their history is second to none and even recently, they are still known for some of the better players in the NBA today.

One of which is current Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine. LaVine was drafted in the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft and has carved out a nice career for himself thus far. The 28-year-old guard is a two-time All-Star and just signed a hefty contract with Chicago last season. It was for five years and worth $215 million.

However, the Bulls haven’t been very competitive with LaVine in the mix, and there has been plenty of talk about them looking to possibly trade him. The team had conversations as recently as this summer with other franchises, including the New York Knicks.

Fred Katz of the Athletic reported that the Knicks did reach out about trying to acquire LaVine from Chicago, but the talks never went anywhere. This was in part because the asking price for the former Bruin was “giant”.

LaVine averaged 24.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists last season for the Bulls over 77 games. He was instrumental in Chicago making a push for the playoffs as they made it in as a play-in team.

A dominant scoring performance for Zach LaVine 🔥

36 points
8 rebounds
5 assists
W pic.twitter.com/Vp80pCKG5b

— NBA (@NBA) March 12, 2023

During his lone season with UCLA, LaVine was very solid. He averaged 9.4 points per game but did shoot 44.1 percent from the field. LaVine also shot 37.5 percent from three-point land as well.

He was a fan favorite during his time at UCLA, and no matter where he plays, he will always be welcomed back to campus. Once a Bruin, always a Bruin!