This is a very interesting trade market. The best illustration of that may be Zach LaVine.

As recently as this past offseason, the Chicago Bulls were reportedly trying to give him away. They might even have been willing to attach a first-round pick to make that happen.

LaVine is undoubtedly talented, but he’s also likely reached his ceiling, and he’s on a huge contract. He’s owed $46.0 million next season and has a $49.0 million player option in 2026-27.

So, how can he possibly be considered an overrated trade target now? Well, that largely comes courtesy of rumors from earlier this season that suggested the Denver Nuggets were interested in trading Michael Porter Jr. for him.

In a vacuum, you can probably argue that LaVine is the better individual player. But the gap isn’t huge, if there even is one. And for a team that already has three ball-handlers in Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and Russell Westbrook, LaVine’s on-ball creation and volume scoring may not be as valuable as MPJ’s shooting, size and rebounding.

At most, the improvement would be marginal. That probably isn’t worth Porter and some portion of what’s left of Denver’s already minuscule stash of draft assets.

Of course, LaVine might make more sense for other suitors. At the very least, his 23.3 points, 4.5 assists, 3.3 threes and 44.4 three-point percentage should end the notion that Chicago would have to attach sweeteners to get off his contract.

But that contract still has to be considered. LaVine’s injury history is a bit of a concern, too. And as he ages into his 30s (he crosses that threshold in March), his already below-average defense isn’t likely to improve.