Trade rumor season in the NBA never ends.

We may be at the outset of training camps around the league, and plenty of fanbases are as optimistic as they'll be for the next several months about their teams' prospects, but there are still some contract and chemistry situations in need of resolutions.

And trades are often the best sources of resolution.

For example, Brandon Ingram didn't get an extension this offseason, is on an expiring contract and plays for a New Orleans Pelicans team without a starting-caliber center. Moving him for a 5 almost seems like a no-brainer.

Further north, the Chicago Bulls are in need of a full-fledged rebuild. And though offseason trades of Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan that landed them soon-to-be-22-years-old Josh Giddey and two second-round picks suggest they may have started collecting materials for that rebuild, there are still veterans who need to be moved. That, of course, includes Zach LaVine.

So, we figured: Why not help two situations with one trade?

Such a deal is exactly what you'll find below. And surprise, surprise: It helps LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, too.

The Deal

Before we get into the specifics on how each team will be benefitted by the trade, as always, we'll take a look at the entire structure in one frame.

Lakers Receive: Zach LaVine and Antonio Reeves

Lakers Lose: Rui Hachimura, D'Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes, a 2029 first-round pick and a 2031 first-round pick

Bulls Receive: Brandon Ingram, D'Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 2029 first-round pick (from Los Angeles) and a 2031 first-round pick (from Los Angeles)

Bulls Lose: Zach LaVine, Chris Duarte and a 2031 first-round pick

Pelicans Receive: Rui Hachimura, Chris Duarte, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes and a 2031 first-round pick (from Chicago)

Pelicans Lose: Brandon Ingram and Antonio Reeves

You can quibble over some of the smaller contracts involved. The number of picks and where they're headed is often a source of conversation, too. But the foundation of this trade helps everyone involved, and I'll explain why below.

Lakers Add a Third Star

Lakers Receive: Zach LaVine and Antonio Reeves

Lakers Lose: Rui Hachimura, D'Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes, a 2029 first-round pick and a 2031 first-round pick

As recently as June, LaVine's trade value was reportedly, well, negative.

"There is no market for Zach Lavine," ESPN's Bobby Marks said. "They are trying to give him away and attach a first-round pick. I've been told that by multiple, multiple people."

Eesh. For LaVine and Bulls fans, that had to be tough to hear, but it's also understandable.

The two-time All-Star is on a hefty contract that runs through 2026-27, when he has a $49 million player option. Injuries limited him to 25 games in 2023-24, and he's long been more of a shoot-first guard than an offensive engine who elevates his teammates.

But in February, we learned LeBron James was on board with the idea of adding LaVine ahead of last season's trade deadline. And that's understandable, too.

LaVine, 29, doesn't have to be an offensive engine on a team with LeBron and Austin Reaves. And he would provide a greater and more consistent scoring punch than L.A.'s most recent third-leading scorer, D'Angelo Russell.

He'd also bump Reaves to the 1, give the Lakers a little bigger backcourt and offer the team a little more defensive optionality than Russell. LaVine isn't exactly a lockdown perimeter defender, but he is longer than Russell (who's often been a genuine disaster on that end).

And even though concern over LaVine's 2023-24 is fair, he's still averaged 24.9 points, 4.4 assists and 2.9 threes, while shooting 38.7 percent from deep, over the last half decade.

Getting him and a flier on incoming rookie Antonio Reeves (who averaged 20.2 points and shot 44.7 percent from deep as a fifth-year senior last season) would push L.A. closer to meaningful title contention, even at the hefty price listed above.

Yes, thanks in large part to the Lakers' current cap situation, a lot of players have to head out to make the money work on this. Five, to be exact.

But Jalen Hood-Schifino, Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes each played fewer than 1,000 minutes last season and will have to fight for rotation spots this season. Russell and Hachimura were starters, but LaVine is an upgrade over the former, and younger wings or forwards like Max Christie and Dalton Knecht have the potential to replace the latter.

The biggest loss here may well be two first-round picks. And Lakers fans may want to keep that powder dry until a bigger star comes along (like, say, Trae Young). But two picks may not be enough to outbid other suitors for bigger stars.

And when you have LeBron and Anthony Davis on your roster, you're pretty much obligated to make win-now moves.

Bulls Continue the Teardown

Bulls Receive: Brandon Ingram, D'Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 2029 first-round pick (from Los Angeles) and a 2031 first-round pick (from Los Angeles)

Bulls Lose: Zach LaVine, Chris Duarte and a 2031 first-round pick

This is a rebuilding trade, pure and simple.

This season should be about developmental minutes for Giddey and Matas Buzelis. It should be about getting out from under long-term money currently allocated to LaVine and Nikola Vučević. And this trade can help them accomplish those goals.

First, it gives them Ingram and Russell, both of whom are on expiring contracts. If they can't find other takers to flip them to before February, they can simply let their money come off the books next summer.

Adding Hood-Schifino gives them another interesting young guard to take a look at during these rebuilding years, too.

More importantly, this framework nets Chicago a first-round pick (as it does for New Orleans). That may not sound like enough to Bulls fans, but it's an awful lot better than having to attach a first to LaVine to unload him (as Marks suggested they'd have to do in June).

And this is one of those deals that could have a cascading effect. By February, Ingram and/or Russell may have rehabbed their own trade values to the point that Chicago can get real value for them, too.

Pelicans End the Brandon Ingram Era (and Add a Center)

Pelicans Receive: Rui Hachimura, Chris Duarte, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes and a 2031 first-round pick (from Chicago)

Pelicans Lose: Brandon Ingram and Antonio Reeves

This move doesn't give the Pelicans the starting-caliber center they may be after in any Ingram deal. But like LaVine, his value can't be very high right now.

The 27-year-old is on an expiring contract and wants a hefty, long-term extension. There can't be too many teams that want to take on that situation along with a sometimes ball-dominant wing who hasn't had an above-average effective field-goal percentage since 2019-20.

Chicago can justify it for the reasons laid out above. And this deal does give New Orleans two players who could log rotation minutes (Hachimura and Hayes) and nets it a first-round pick for a wing who doesn't seem too excited to be there.

Having Hayes, 24, at least gives the Pelicans the option to play more traditional lineups, too. With or without Ingram, starting Zion Williamson at the 5 is beginning to feel like a reality, but Hayes can bring more size and rebounding when needed.