Bulls Notes: LaVine, Portis, Defense

Having secured a $78MM payday in July, Zach LaVine will face extra scrutiny in 2018/19, but the 23-year-old guard isn’t feeling any added pressure to prove that he’s worth the Bulls‘ investment, as K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune details.

“I don’t have to validate anything,” LaVine said. “I feel I’ve earned everything I’ve gotten. … Added pressure? Man, I’m the hardest critic out of everybody on my own side. I’m just excited because I know I’ve had a really good summer. I know how good we can be.”

As LaVine observes, the current Bulls’ group hasn’t won anything yet, so the team will enter the season looking to defy prognosticators who view Chicago as a sub-.500 squad.

“We hear the outside expectations, but I think we use that as fuel,” LaVine said. “We’re going to get off to a hot start with training camp coming. We’ve all been here and it’s going to be fun. That’s why I think we’re all able to get a jump on the season because we’re all healthy now.”

Here’s more out of Chicago:

• The Bulls face an October 15 deadline to lock up Bobby Portis to a rookie scale extension, and it appears the team is making an effort to get something done. GM Gar Forman, who said the Bulls view Portis as “part of our core,” indicated on Monday that the club has met with Portis’ agent several times about a possible contract (Twitter link via K.C. Johnson). Portis would be eligible for restricted free agency in 2019 without a new deal in place.
• The Bulls invested heavily in offense this summer by matching LaVine’s offer sheet and signing Jabari Parker, but they’ll only go as far as their defense takes them in 2018/19, writes Mark Strotman of NBC Sports Chicago. “There’s no reason in the world we shouldn’t be able to go out and make things tough for the other team,” head coach Fred Hoiberg said of the Bulls’ defense. “It’s not about one individual. It’s about getting all five on the same page and building the habits.”
• In case you missed it over the weekend, Bulls center Omer Asik has been ruled out indefinitely due to inflammatory arthritis.