Grade the trade: Lakers go all-in on big three in Zach LaVine pitch

The Trade

The cost of doing business with the Chicago Bulls could prove significant. Some might oppose that statement by referencing the bag of chips that Chicago got back for DeMar DeRozan, but it was negotiating with no leverage considering they were sign-and-trading a free agent and wanted to get something in return.

LaVine is signed for the next three seasons, meaning the Bulls could drive a high price—which Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report attempts to navigate in this proposed trade.

The upside here is that the Lakers would be completing this trade without giving up a single future first-round draft pick. That not only helps Los Angeles preserve its long-term assets, but enables the team to potentially package selections with LaVine in a future trade if this move doesn't work out.

That's certainly a way to cushion the blow, as the price of doing business seems to include two starters, and the top defender on the Lakers' roster who's not named Anthony Davis.

Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, Austin Reaves, and Jarred Vanderbilt are included because of LaVine's massive $43,031,940 salary. They eventually help the Lakers get to where they need to be as far as matching finances is concerned, albeit while costing the team two starters and the likely sixth man.

The question is: With everything that the Lakers are shipping out, will the totality of what LaVine brings to the table ultimately outweigh the value being shipped out?

There's no simple answer to that question, which is why this trade still hasn't happened.