Bulls, Zach LaVine travel to trade-happy Toronto

Bulls, Zach LaVine travel to trade-happy Toronto originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich

Though Patrick Williams‘ bothersome right ankle kept him out of practice again Wednesday and Torrey Craig only has started light jogging on his right plantar fascia injury, the Chicago Bulls got good news regarding Ayo Dosunmu.

The local product, who left Monday’s loss in Cleveland early after re-aggravating his left shoulder injury, underwent imaging on Tuesday and is “totally fine” according to coach Billy Donovan. Dosunmu practiced in advance of Thursday’s meeting with the Raptors in Toronto.

The same Raptors who traded leading scorer Pascal Siakam to the Bulls’ divisional rival in the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday. The same Raptors who dealt OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks late last month. The dissolution of their 2018-19 championship team is almost complete.

Meanwhile, with three weeks and a day to go until the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline, Zach LaVine‘s market hasn’t materialized.

“I don’t think about (trades) at all,” LaVine said on Monday in Cleveland. “Unless I get a call from my agent, it’s just another day at the office for me. I’m glad to be out here playing. I’ve been in trade talks for a long time, obviously. I think this year was bigger than years prior. But at the end of the day, it’s nothing new.”

While the Bulls remain motivated to find LaVine a new home, something LaVine conveyed his openness to earlier this season for the first time, it takes at least one partner obviously to make a trade work. NBC Sports Chicago reported previously that the Bulls are most focused on LaVine’s future and, ideally, would see how the roster looks after a potential LaVine trade before making other decisions.

But if the Bulls can’t find a market for LaVine and remain in their middling state, currently ninth in the Eastern Conference, it will be intriguing to see what management does. With Alex Caruso‘s trade market always robust and DeMar DeRozan‘s contract up after this season, the Bulls have decisions to make.

Both Anunoby and Siakam had been rumored in trade talks for years before Raptors president Masai Ujiri made his moves this season. The Raptors currently sit 12th in the East, three games behind the Bulls.

Click here to follow the Bulls Talk Podcast.