Why the Cavaliers should trade Darius Garland for Chicago Bulls star

As the 2024 offseason lingers, the world of NBA trade talks always remains red-hot. Whether its the occasional pickup of rotational pieces, or a potential addition to a team's draft pick arsenal with the draft approaching, transaction news will always make its way around the headlines.

However, for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team's name has been thrust into the light a multitude of times as they look to drastically improve the roster ahead of the 2024-25 season. The Cavaliers are trying to ensure that they keep superstar guard Donovan Mitchell with the team long-term, so bringing in more pieces around him is important.

That's where the newest rumor rumbling enters the picture: Chicago Bulls' Zach LaVine.

Around the trade deadline of this past season, he was rumored to be on the move as the Bulls shifted their focus to finding a new way to compete in the East. With a variety of injuries to their starters, and their rotational pieces not providing enough production, a slight rebuild seemed imminent. The team started to shop around Zach LaVine, yet surprisingly not many teams seemed interested in taking a chance on the 28-year-old.

But, the Cavaliers certainly should.

Zach LaVine is slowly becoming one of the most dynamic shooting guards in the league. His scoring ability is among the league's elite from all levels of his game. Whether he's slashing at the rim, hitting mid-range jumpers, or sinking threes with consistency, his tools to help him find a bucket are incredibly helpful to any team's offense.

His offensive versatility would instantly make the Cavaliers a more formidable team on that end of the floor.

Pairing LaVine with youngsters such as Evan Mobley and Isaac Okoro (if he stays) would create a dynamic level of spacing that could drive them to improve and learn from his experience. Okoro and LaVine have similar styles to their offensive and defensive abilities, but LaVine obviously is much more fine-tuned.

His ability to create his own shot would alleviate some of the scoring and high-intensity pressure that is put on Mitchell while providing Mobley with a reliable scoring option to play off of in the pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop scenarios. This trio would pose significant matchup problems for opposing teams to combat such lethality from both sides of the ball.

In the 2023-24 season, due to injury, he participated in just 25 outings for the Bulls. During his time on the court, he averaged just below 20 points per game, five rebounds and four assists. When looking at the season prior, he played in 77 games where he showed much better statistics. During the 2023-24 campaign, he posted 25 points per game, four assists and four rebounds, producing a high level of play for the Bulls.

With those types of numbers and an above-average roster, the expected amount of success for his career in recent years has been much higher. Unfortunately, though, the Bulls have either not made the playoffs or have been knocked out early in his tenure with the team. The needed fix... is a new home.