Bulls star Zach LaVine played in both games of a back-to-back set for the first time this season on Tuesday and Wednesday, suiting up in Brooklyn vs. the Nets and then at home vs. the Hornets. LaVine scored just 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting on Wednesday, but said after the win that his surgically repaired knee wasn’t an issue, as Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago writes.
“I felt good. My legs were tired. A couple of my shots were short,” LaVine said. “But, you know, it was one of them games.”
Given how carefully the Bulls have managed LaVine so far this season coming off left knee surgery, it’s a cause for optimism that he logged a total of 69 minutes across those two games and came out feeling OK. Still, head coach Billy Donovan said the team will continue to take a day-to-day approach to how it handles LaVine’s workload and availability, according to Schaefer.
“I think the thing for him is it’s the cumulative,” Donovan said on Tuesday, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “That’s really where I think (the medical staff is) concerned, like the cumulative buildup of things. He could be totally fine today, come out of this game totally fine. Then let’s say he plays tomorrow. He can wake up the next day and be in some discomfort.”
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- Ayo Dosunmu, who has emerged as the Bulls’ starting point guard in his second NBA season, has impressed his teammates with his leadership, as Schaefer details in another NBC Sports Chicago story. “He steps up to the challenge all the time. Ayo even in his second year is a vocal leader,” LaVine said on Tuesday. “He helps pick up our energy, offensively, defensively, just the way he carries himself.”
- There have been questions about whether Patrick Williams should keep his spot in the Bulls’ starting lineup, but the former No. 4 overall pick had his best game of the season on Tuesday in Brooklyn. According to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, Donovan essentially challenged Williams to do it again, and he responded with an even better performance on Wednesday vs. Charlotte, scoring a season-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and posting a positive net rating (+19) for the first time this season.
- Following Wednesday’s game, Donovan praised Williams for starting to produce more consistently and urged fans to be patient with the forward’s ongoing development. “I get everyone wants to see this progression. But in fairness to him, he hasn’t had a normal two-year NBA schedule like a lot of guys have had. It’s taken him some time,” Donovan said, according to Johnson. “And every player develops and evolves at a different rate.”
- Andre Drummond (shoulder) and Coby White (quad) have both missed multiple games due to their respective injuries, but the Bulls don’t view either as a long-term concern, Cowley writes for The Sun-Times. According to Donovan, MRIs on both players came back clean.
Whatever the message was Williams got it. His last 2 games have been a total turnaround. Hope it continues.
Really happy for Williams, and also glad for Bulls fans that they don’t have to go through with giving up on a guy too soon. Again.
Ain’t that the truth!! Went through the same thing with Snell Portis, Lauri, and especially Wendell Carter Jr., obviously to varying degrees, and then also I always really wanted them to hang onto Gafford.
I’m also stoked for Patrick Williams, he’s finally starting to look like his more aggressive pre-injury self, and it is paying dividends.
With a healthy Ball and a healthy Williams this team’s ceiling is drastically different. Without them, they’re a likely play-in team, but with them I could see the Bulls finishing anywhere from third to fifth likely behind the Bucks and then probably Cleveland or Boston..
Now, if they could get White going too, then him, Caruso, Javonte Green, Dragic, Derrick Jones, Dalen Terry, and Drummond can combine to form their new and improved bench mob…!!
Ball truly changes the game for the Bulls, but if they got Williams AND White playing well consistently then they could potentially surprise some teams and still finish around the 4th or 5th spot.
Alot has to go right, but they can pull it off…Well, I’ll be rooting for them to anyways…
Mike…
I know you watch enough that I think you’ll understand what mean here… It’s almost like he wants permission to turn it on. Permission seems to have sunk in the last two games. Let it ride, young fella.
Could it be that both were good matchups for him? I dont get after how many years of the game being this way, people still cant grasp the concepts there is only 1 basketball, and this league is all about matchups
How good would the Bulls be right now had they stayed the course with Lauri Markkanen rather than drafting Patrick Williams and moving on?????
Bulls took Williams #4 overall in 2020. Tyrese Haliburton went #12.
Williams attacks the basket. Markannen never gets within 25 feet of it and the only rebounds he gets are ones that bounce out 20 feet from the basket. I’ll take Williams. As long as he keeps attacking he’s the way better player. And whoever they draft with Portland’s 1st next year will be icing the way AK and Eversley draft.
Actually Markkanen has done most of his work on what so far his been his best season from inside. He has taken 56% of his shots in the paint and has a true shooting percentage of well over 65% from that area this season. Both of which is well above league average. He’s also averaging 9.0 rebounds per game. Once he starts knocking down 3’s he’ll be even more lethal. He has to be the early favorite for Most Improved Player.
I was gonna say, somebody hasn’t watched Markkanen since he left ChiTown. Even in Cleveland, he was way more aggressive than that makes him sound.
So you’re saying he was just a wimp here? Huh, Maybe getting traded was good for him then.I know it was good for the Bulls and no I don’t make a habit of watching Markannen play. If I wanted to be bored I’d paint the wall and watch it dry.
The kid has improved and it was the bad coaching ( Jim B. ) that messed up the kid.
You can blame Boylen for a lot but not him being a 7 foot wimp.
Except that he isn’t and has never been. Seriously. It sounds like you hate Markkanen just because he wasn’t great with Chicago. Boylen used him solely as a stretch 4 in the vein of Davis Bertans and he was never that guy. Boylen gets the blame for him not flourishing because Markkanen flourished as soon as he was in a new environment where people actually believed in him.
He was when he was here. If you breathed on him he was out at least a week. I saw 3 years of it. Carter is an undersized guy who should of been the 4 that they made play the 5 because Lauri had an allergy to any kind of contact. Don’t tell me I was the guy watching the games. I don’t know how many you saw but I’ve had my fill. Carter would have 3 fouls before the crowd sat down trying to guard guys he was out muscled by like 30 or 40 pounds every night. They never should of been drafted to play together it was a mistake by Gar-Pax, One of many.
“one of them games” #crowhawks
3 team trade
Bulls: Anthony Davis, Kendrick Nunn,
Lakers: Lonzo Ball, Buddy Heild, DeMare DeRozan and Myles Turner
Pacers: Russell Westbrook and 2 first round picks.
Bulls line up Ayo LaVine Caruso AD Vuce
AD and Nunn return home. Should have a top tier defence and really good offence. Open up the floor, LaVine AD/Vuce pick and roll and Pick and pop game would be tough. Ayo I think could really take a leap as a starter.
Bench Dragic Nunn/White DJJ Pat Will Drummond
Pacers buy out Russ and just continue the rebuild
Lakers line up Lonzo Buddy DeRozan LeBron Turner
Lonzo returns to LA, DeRozan comes to the lakers which should’ve happen a couple years ago, Buddy gives them an elite shooter and Turner is the glue guy. Lonzo gives you really good perimeter defence, plays at a fast tempo and offers some scoring and play making. Buddy obviously the shooter. DeRozan would be probably be the main scoring option and help LeBron lead this team. Bron I think would be the second scoring option and focus more on play king and leading this team. Turner then is the glue guy, protects the rim at an elite level, spaces the floor and makes it all work. Bench would be solid too with Bev and Schroder, JTA and Walker, Bryant and Jones.
You keep proposing these moronic trades where the Bulls get the Human Injury Anthony Davis just because he’s from Chicago. Nobody here cares. Sure that would be great for the Bulls to have Lavine and Davis watching the games from the press box for about 80 million. Please, Crack is a terrible disease. 28 days my man. Baby steps. Face it, The Lakers won’t be relevant for the rest of the decade.
For what it’s worth (not much as you’ll see), I ran that one through the trade machine minus the two picks and it worked. Bulls actually got four wins better. Lakers and Pacers each got 2 games worse though.