Warriors could trade former DPOY, NBA champion to Bulls for Zach LaVine

The Golden State Warriors are now 10-20 over the course of their last 30 contests and hold a 22-23 record overall following their latest defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers by a score of 118-108 on Saturday night.

It has become clear that Golden State’s general manager Mike Dunleavy needs to make a move to provide Stephen Curry with a star offensive talent, but it may just cost them their four-time NBA champion and 2017 Defensive player of the Year, Draymond Green.

By making Green available, the Warriors could throw him in a deal to land former two-time All-Star and scoring phenom Zach LaVine from the Chicago Bulls.

LaVine is currently enjoying his most productive and efficient season by far in his eighth year with Chicago, averaging 24.0 points and 4.5 assists while shooting 51.2% from the floor and a knocking down a blistering 44.4% of his attempts from distance, both career-best percentages.

Prior to the Feb. 6 trade deadline, LaVine could be viewed as a must-have for a Warriors team struggling to find scoring production outside of Curry and Andrew Wiggins, and they may be in the market to perform a defense-for-offense transaction with the Bulls.

At age 34, Green’s numbers are on par with his career averages, as he’s contributing 8.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists with 1.0 steals and 1.1 blocked shots.

As Green continues to age, his advanced plus-minus numbers have steadily dropped, with his offensive box plus-minus sitting at -2.2 and defensive box plus-minus at 2.4. While the advanced stats don’t tell the whole story, Golden State would surely still prefer to see steady, consistent production.

Plenty of rumors have involved Green’s eventual departure, with the Detroit Pistons being a known possible suitor due to spending his formative years in Saginaw, Michigan and his career as a collegiate player at Michigan State.

It would certainly be tough to see a pillar of the dynastic organization leave in such a way, but the Warriors’ struggles to score the ball may end up being the reason why they miss Play-In Tournament come season’s end.

In a potential deal, Golden State could pair Green with, Kyle Anderson, the recently acquired Dennis Schröder and first-round draft capital to land a dynamic scorer from all areas in LaVine.