It’s no secret that the Chicago Bulls are trying to find a trade partner for Zach LaVine. However, numerous reports indicate that there isn’t one for the All-Star guard so far. This has led renowned NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski to surmise that LaVine must first prove himself on several fronts to get other teams to negotiate.

The Bulls are playing a lot better
Before the last two Bulls’ losses, Chicago was coming off an excellent December, winning 10 of 15 games. According to Bleacher Nation’s Elias Schuster, a 15-game stretch is too substantial a sample size to ignore.

“This is a large enough sample size to know that we are not dealing with a mere coincidence. Something about LaVine’s departure led to the Chicago Bulls playing better basketball. And, to be honest, it doesn’t matter if the reasoning revolves around a more optimistic view that his teammates wanted to have his back or a more concerning view that his teammates finally felt unburdened (most lean the latter). All that does matter is that this has damaged Zach LaVine’s trade value,” Schuster wrote.

What teams want to first see from LaVine
To that end, Woj explained that teams who have an eye out for LaVine want to see a few things first before getting involved in any trade talks for the former slam dunk champ.