As many big names have already headed into their NBA offseasons, trade rumors and ideas are picking up left and right. The Orlando Magic, a young team with plenty of assets and a bright future, have been mentioned in some rumors surrounding connections to Paul George and Klay Thompson in free agency.
Other sources have suggested they add scoring and playmaking on the trade market in the form of Dejounte Murray. BleacherReport just recently released their “Best and Worst Landing Spots for NBA Trade Targets.” In it, they connect the Magic to a name that has not come up a lot yet.
BleacherReport lists Orlando as the best fit for Zach LaVine
The Magic and Bulls were already involved in a blockbuster trade a few years ago, sending Nikola Vucevic to Chicago in exchange for Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter, and the draft picks that would eventually become Franz Wagner and Jett Howard.
Since then, the Bulls’ big three of Vucevic, Zach LaVine, and DeMar DeRozan have been rather disappointing and never brought the team any big playoff success. As a result, the Bulls and Zach LaVine have been reportedly trying to part ways for quite some time now.
Turns out the market for LaVine is not great, however. He is on a massive contract as well as injury prone and the Bulls played better this season when he was not on the court.
Still, the Bulls have to do something to fix their state of constant mediocrity, and finding a new home for LaVine might be the best way to start. So, we should expect to hear his name mentioned in plenty of trade talks over the summer.
BleacherReport’s Zach Buckley listed Orlando as the best landing spot for LaVine, citing the team’s lack of offensive production as the main reason.
Would LaVine really be a good fit with the Magic?
In theory, this could work out. The Magic desperately need another high-level offensive threat, someone who can knock down threes, and create for himself. Plus, they have the defensive talent to mask LaVine’s shortcomings on that end of the floor and could afford to take on his giant contract.
In practice, it is much trickier. The Magic have a chance to build a true powerhouse in the Eastern Conference around their core of young talent and physical defenders. Relying on LaVine to stay healthy does not seem to be the way to go here. The last time he played a full season was in 2015-16, and since then, he only played over 65 games twice.
If you are the Magic, you do not want to trade for LaVine only to have him sit on the bench for possibly the majority of the season. At this point, LaVine’s status as a star in the NBA is murky at best, and there are other, more reliable options out there.
The Magic need players who can consistently and reliably create offense. Otherwise, they will be back right where they are right now.
For LaVine, this could be a solid fit. He would get a chance to be one of the team’s focal points on offense while not having to worry about his defense and getting to play with one of the next big names in the NBA. From the Magic’s side, it doesn’t seem like that great of a fit, however. They would have to be incredibly desperate to bank on LaVine and his injury issues.