Bulls' Zach LaVine drawing interest from prominent East team

The sharks are officially circling the waters amid reports of tension between Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported on Tuesday that several opposing teams are monitoring LaVine’s situation in Chicago. One team mentioned specifically is the New York Knicks.

The All-Star guard LaVine is having a frustrating year for the spiraling Bulls, who are 11th in the East right now at 12-18. Several of LaVine’s teammates reportedly blew up on him at halftime of a recent loss. An additional report also emerged this week indicating that LaVine is not seeing eye-to-eye with the Bulls organization.

The Knicks are doing just fine right now even without LaVine, shooting up to sixth in the East on the strength of an active eight-game winning streak. But they remain without a truly elite scorer on the perimeter with Jalen Brunson lacking size and RJ Barrett lacking efficiency. LaVine is also familiar with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, having been coached by Thibodeau on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It may be difficult to get the numbers to work on a LaVine trade since he just started a new five-year, $215 million max contract. But the Knicks have a few assets making big money (like Barrett, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson) and now a known interest in potentially pursuing LaVine.