Bulls surprisingly 'can't find any takers' for All-Star shooting guard

The Chicago Bulls are desperately looking to move their star shooting guard, but it's beginning to look like a lost cause.

With free agency set to kick off on Sunday, the Bulls are looking to clear cap space, a goal that hinges largely on Chicago's ability to trade two-time All-Star Zach LaVine, who is owed $138M over the next three seasons.

The problem for Chicago is that LaVine -- a player the Bulls have been trying to get rid of for a year -- is not attracting buyers.

Though it was reported last week that the Sacramento Kings had interest in LaVine and that the Philadelphia 76ers viewed him as a backup trade option, the market for LaVine is reportedly drying up as free agency approaches.

Speaking to Sirius XM Radio on Saturday, ESPN's NBA front office insider Bobby Marks revealed that LaVine's list of suitors could be far shorter than initially assumed.

“Chicago’s been trying to move Zach LaVine forever," Marks said. "They can’t find any takers to get off his contract. I don’t even think if they attached a first-round pick, teams would take him. So that impacts DeMar DeRozan because you can’t sign DeRozan and keep LaVine … now you’re going into the luxury tax."

The Bulls have known for a while that they can't afford to sign DeRozan with LaVine still on the books.

Even so, LaVine has proved nearly impossible to trade, which has surely led DeRozan's camp to realize that the Bulls will be unable to pay DeRozan what other teams like the Los Angeles Clippers will be more than willing to spend.

It's looking more and more like Chicago has lost control of the DeRozan situation.

The time has come for the Bulls to change the game plan for LaVine and swallow his contract for now.

LaVine's salary works against Chicago's rebuild, but maybe he can play his way back into being a trade commodity before the 2024-25 trade deadline.

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