After missing some time in January and February due to knee soreness, Bulls guard Zach LaVine had an encouraging visit with a specialist prior to the All-Star break, getting fluid drained from his left knee and getting the OK to return to the court.
However, speaking on Wednesday to reporters, including Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times and K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, LaVine admitted that his knee still isn’t back to normal and likely won’t be until next season.
“I mean my knee isn’t 100 percent. That’s just the reality of it,” LaVine said. “… Now, can I still go out here and contribute? I can still do that, but it’s just something I’ve got to fight through until the end of the season. … I might not be 100 percent. But me at 80 percent, 70 percent, whatever it is, it’s still one of the best players in the NBA. So, damn sure one of the best players on the court when we play.”
LaVine said that if his knee didn’t feel “sturdy” or “structurally right,” he wouldn’t be playing, but that’s not the issue — it’s more about dealing with some pain and a more limited range of motion. He plans to continue receiving treatment and playing through the injury for now, then will “deal with it” more thoroughly once the season is over.
“We don’t know what that is going to be and how exactly we’re going to approach it. But it is pretty much like a band-aid,” LaVine said. “It’s making me feel better for the time being and getting me to a place where I feel comfortable playing and being effective on the court over this last stretch. And then the offseason, I’ll deal with whatever I have to.”
As Cowley notes, when asked if he’ll have to undergo surgery in the summer, LaVine didn’t rule out that possibility, suggesting that it’s “going to be a discussion for me and my doctor” to determine what course of action gives him the best chance to get back to 100%.
LaVine will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, so it’s not ideal timing for him for him to be battling an injury. While he’ll still be a strong candidate for a maximum-salary contract, playing at less than 100% down the stretch and then possibly undergoing a surgical procedure won’t exactly boost his free agent stock. Still, he said today that he’s focused on helping his team and has no interest in shutting himself down for the season.
“I have a big responsibility here with the team, my teammates, my coaches, the city of Chicago. I take a lot of pride in that. It means something to me,” LaVine said. “And I hope people understand that I’m going out here and definitely not putting myself first here in this situation. I don’t get my contract right now. I’m not a free agent until the end of the season. So until then, I’m focused on the season. It’s pretty black and white to me.”
I appreciate Zach for sucking it up and playing. Not sure what good it does to publicize his ailing knee situation this often. Hopefully he can stay healthy enough to get in somebody’s way on defense once in awhile.
Called it. Still wanna give him that big contract Bulls fans? No worry..he can make up for it in mtn dew and carmax commercials…what else will he shill instead of his health?
Well I was never in favor of giving him Max Money with a good knee, With the wear and tear it’s going to take on now, I still say sign and trade is the way to go. The Lavine fans will be up in arms again, but I’d rather have the cap space to extend Vujevic and re sign Jones and maybe even Brown. Lavine doesn’t make sense anymore but AK and Eversley have the final say. I trust them to make the right decision in the end. I just hope Eversley doesn’t get poached by someone but he’s probably too good to be a 2nd banana for long.
Im bulls fan and agree with u.i like him but not that far,prefer 2 way player than him.ddr can back to his natural post.ball,ddr,patwill,new pf,vooch.i love if we can trade vooc too for younger c.
It won’t give them cap space unless they renounce the whole roster and take back no salary in sign and trade. Vuc, DeRozan, ball, Caruso 80 mil next year.
Also resigning brown would be a waste of money considering he’s only getting minutes cause the bulls are missing 3 rotation pieces on front of him.
LOL? Zach Lavine is still in his prime getting rid of him would be so dumb. That’s why the Bulls were aggressive in FA and the deadline to build around Zach I’m not a bulls fan but trading Lavine the bulls wouldn’t even be in the playoffs and probably just barely in play in Zach Lavine is so important to them bulls are probably going to do whatever it takes to bring him by surprise you guys want him gone he is a key factor why you guys are top three in the east. Never let him go I get the health concern but he should be good he doesn’t miss much games anymore.
Yeah I’m confused here. Without Zach we have no team identity. He is our best player for the lomg haul because Williams is unproven and Derozen is 32 years old. If your not building around Zach then what are you even doing?
Knicks will take LaVine …… no problema
DeRozan can play the 2 where he belongs. Williams can be the 3. Ball, Ayo, Caruso and White make a solid guard group still. Plus they still have their late first round pick and maybe Portlands too although that looks more unlikely I’m thinking. They will need to seriously look to getting a couple of 4’s to battle the big lineups. You sure you want Randle and Lavine on the same team? You’re going to need 2 balls. Or a hypnotist.
Demar isn’t a 2 anymore he is 3/4 Williams is best at the 4.
I don’t want Randle. I’m hoping they trade him and go with Obi and a real PG.
The reason they drafted Obi. Was to possibly move Randle. He got the message and had his best yr ever. Good for him. But he’s back to two yrs ago. And we need to go forward not backwards.
Agreed. Like drafting a young quarterback. How do you light the fire once again?
Al, I don’t blame you. But if the Knicks wanted to deal him as he’s on an expiring deal this would of been the year to do it. Doing a sign and trade with Lavine will be a lot easier than Randle I would think. Not sure there’s a huge market for him if they couldn’t even trade him on an expiring deal. I’m sure someone will want him as a FA, Just don’t think he’d bring a big return. Also I want to clear something up. Everybody thinks I don’t like Lavine. Nothing can be further from the truth. I think he’s an awesome talent, Nice Guy, And a good team-mate. I just don’t think he’s worth 40 million a year. I think that money could be spent much more productively. There are worse players making 4o million a year, Which is sad. The biggest waste of this is Davis. And it’s been speculated by some idiots that the Bulls will sign Lavine then flip him for Davis. If that happens, That would be the worst mistake in the history of the NBA. I’d rather keep Lavine than have Davis.
You apparently don’t understand how cap space works. It’s Lavine or nothing, or sign and trade for a huge downgrade.
Absent something more ominous than this, AK will (at least try to) resign ZL at whatever price he can command. If its max (as it looks), its max. That’s the NBA market. AK made the deals for Vuc, Ball and DDR because of their fit alongside ZL. He won’t be the one to walk away.
Agreed
How do those three fit ZL any more or less than anyone else? Does Caruso count too?
styles- “Williams is best at the 4”- by what standard? Hopefully not fandreaming.
Dubious. More like, those newbies, heavy at guard, are to replace Lavine, understanding that ZL is not worth the expected outlay. S&T likely. IDK who covets him enough for max (or what the max even is for him). Funny if it’s Spurs.
Williams is not quick enough to play small forward, but is very good at perimeter defense and mid range shots. Also big enough to clog lanes on D. Needs to improve his rebounding, but he can watch Thompson and learn.
The fit on offense is that ZL, Vuc and DDR are all non-PG facilitators, that prefer to initiate the offense from different parts of the court. ZL-long distance, DDR – midrange, Vuc – middle high or low post. Ball is not a great half court facilitator (for himself or others), but doesn’t need to be with this group, and contributes in other areas, mainly defense.
On defense, the fit revolves around Williams and Ball (each can guard 1-4). They keep ZL and DDR out of bad defensive matchups.
As far as the Bulls are concerned (rhetoric aside), Williams is (was) the 3. DDR is the 4 (he’s been playing this spot for 4 years now). That’s why when Williams got hurt, he was replaced by another perimeter player. DDR is too much of a liability to play (defensively) with a C and traditional 4. Bulls fans have been looking for a PF since the injury (even before), but the team hasn’t been.
Losing ZL and replacing him with a 3 & D shooting guard, would give them a backcourt without a dual threat facilitator, and that tends not to work even if the frontcourt contains a bunch.
The replacement would be Caruso, White or Dosunmu, who are also combo-y.
I imagine an ideal 4 to trade for, but ideal trades are hard. Keeping Lavine is probably the safe bet. Looking at their roster outlays I see they can afford a max to Lavine… but it’s hard to believe he will be worth it in the end.
“But me at 80 percent, 70 percent, whatever it is, it’s still one of the best players in the NBA. So, damn sure one of the best players on the court when we play.”
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Whoops.
Thought I was reading the Nikola Jokic article. Sure didn’t sound like him. Got that straightened out.
He probably should have just got the surgery when this first happened in like November. He’d be back by now.
Pre med?