NBA Rumors: Zach LaVine may 'possibly' join the Lakers in Free Agency

Let the offseason rumors begin!

There are rumors from several sources (Clutch Points, Basketball Forever, and ESPN) that unrestricted free agent Zach LaVine is 'possibly' joining the Los Angeles Lakers through a sign-and-trade deal.

If you don't believe me, you can see the rumor below for yourself:

If it were not for rumors, leaks would not be put out for the public to see. So whenever a rumor is put out there, believe them, especially if a real source confirms them. In this case, ESPN was the source that confirmed the rumor of Zach LaVine 'eyeing the possibility of joining the Lakers this summer.'

Now LaVine has always wanted to play with 4-time NBA champion LeBron James for quite some time. The possibility of Zach teaming up with his other childhood idol, LeBron James, is starting to become a reality. Imagine Zach and LeBron in transition taking turns dunking and giving us multiple dunk contests on the court.

How about LeBron passing to Zach for a 3-point shot? Or Zach lobbing to LeBron for a powerful slam dunk? The pick-and-roll between those two would be unstoppable if LeBron continues beating father time.

The possibility is endless.

Since a sign-and-trade is involved, I'm curious which players will be in the mix if Zach is added in.

Sign-and-Trade Scenarios

Since LaVine is available this offseason, Spurs guard Dejounte Murray chimed in on how Zach would look in a Spurs jersey:

Because of this post, Murray was fined $50,000 for tampering while LaVine is still under contract with the Bulls. Free agency is not here yet and Murray becomes the first player to start the recruiting process. I am sure more players will join in when free agency begins.

Do you know who needs LaVine right now in the playoffs?

The Philadelphia 76ers.

Without Joel Embiid for the time being, the Sixers with a washed James Harden cannot handle the disciplined Miami Heat. So there is no way Zach would join that team. There is one particular All-Star who is rumored to join the Sixers is none other than Wizards guard Bradley Beal. That discussion will be for another day.

Now back to the Zach LaVine offseason situation.

Along with rumors of him joining the Lakers, both NBA Central and Joe Cowley on Twitter revealed that LaVine played with an 'injured' knee that was '50% on a good day.'

To furthermore back up this information, here is what LaVine says about his offseason plans, per @chicagobulls:

"I need to go into the offseason and figure out how to get back to 100%. I wasn't playing at 100, need to find a strategy to get my knee back to normal, get back to LA and see my doctor and figure out what's the best plan of action."

Zach is absolutely right about this approach heading into the offseason. Get your knee right and figure out what is the best option for you. It can be one or two things. Rehab the knee until you are 100% and joining a new team for a fresh start.

My prayers are for him to have a speedy recovery and becoming available to play next season. As for his decision, it is not up to me or anyone to decide which team is his primary destination.

We don't choose for Zach.

Only Zach choose his own destiny.

Either way, Zach will be okay with his decision.

The offseason will take care of itself.

All Zach need to do is start rehabbing after his knee surgery and enjoy his free agency.

Takeaways

Zach LaVine has some serious thinking to do and questions to ask himself entering the offseason.

Will Zach leave the only franchise that drafted him and join the Lakers or another team? After joining a new team, will the trades work for both parties involved?

All of these questions will be answered during the offseason.

For the meantime, we need to wait patiently and see how Zach's rehab and decision plays out.

Thank you for reading!

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Stay tuned for the next post and have a great day!

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