Meme defense: LeBron skirts social media talk

Host Danny Leroux talks with Jared Dubin of Last Night in Basketball about the imminent NBA trade deadline.

They discuss how Joel Embiid’s injury affects the 76ers’ approach (before Sunday’s announcement), the Knicks’ amazing January, which teams may hold their players until the offseason and much more.

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The trade market the Chicago Bulls have attempted to generate for Zach LaVine has continued to be tepid and their improved play without him over the past few weeks has done nothing to improve the situation.

“Two things have to happen for the Bulls and for Zach LaVine to even have a chance, I think, really, for a trade at the deadline,” said Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday evening. “He has to show teams that he’s healthy. And he has to show them he can impact winning. This team has played much better without him. And with his contract, in this new salary cap, at a deal if you have to take him on just under $200 million left on his contract. You’ve got to believe this player is healthy and can impact winning.

“There’s no market for Zach LaVine right now. There’s not been. And even him playing maybe increasingly better closer to the deadline, it just may not be there.

“This is a Bulls’ organization that, listen, would like to find a deal for him. And they’d like to get something back. That might be asking too much. They may in the end just have to be glad they can find a team that will take on his contract.”

LaVine re-signed with the Bulls in 2022 on a five-year, $215 million deal and then kept Nikola Vucevic last offseason on a three-year, $60 million extension.

“The Bulls do not want to do a teardown. They’re not trying to do that,” added Wojnarowski.