The Los Angeles Lakers have a lot of work to do this offseason and even though the offseason has not begun, the Lakers rumors have already started growing heavy. However, it is important at this time of year to know what are actual Lakers rumors, what is speculation, and what is downright not true.
There is a viral “report” circling around Lakers Facebook groups, the Lakers subreddit and on Twitter that states that Zach LaVine is eyeing the possibility of joining the Lakers this season via a sign-and-trade deal.
This report is “sourced” via ESPN, indicating that ESPN is the outlet that first reported this potential interest from LaVine. The problem is that nowhere has anyone with ESPN claimed such a thing. ESPN did include a story from the Associated Press on its website that outlined LaVine being ready to explore free agency but the Lakers were never mentioned in the story.
The only way Zach LaVine Lakers rumors become legit is if the Los Angeles Lakers are shopping Anthony Davis.
There is no validity to this LaVine report at this time and Lakers fans should be disregarding the viral social media report. Granted, that does not mean that a LaVine trade won’t eventually happen, but there currently is no reported interest from either party in making this happen.
The only way that this would become an actual reality is if the Lakers were shopping Antony Davis because of trade concerns this summer. If so, the Lakers could package AD in a trade back to his hometown Bulls for a return that is centered around LaVine. That is still a big if.
Anyone suggesting that the Lakers could trade Russell Westbrook for Zach LaVine is absolutely ludicrous. The Lakers could attach four first-round picks (they only have two to trade) and the Bulls would never take this deal. It would actually be better for the Bulls to lose LaVine for nothing than to get Westbrook back in a trade.
We are entering the part of the NBA calendar where Lakers rumors are starting to fly all over the place. It is important to use the smell test with these rumors and ask yourself if it sounds legitimate.
While we definitely do our fair share of proposed trade packages and free-agent targets, never will we pass off our own speculation as an actual report of the Lakers’ intentions this summer.