Bulls guard Zach LaVine will need additional treatment for the inflammation in his right foot, causing him to be sidelined another three to four weeks, the team announced (via Twitter).
The ailment has already kept LaVine out of action since November 28, forcing him to miss the past three games. He has appeared in 18 of Chicago’s 22 games so far, averaging 21.0 points, 4.9 points and 3.4 assists in 35.3 minutes per night.
The latest complications will obviously delay any trade talks involving LaVine, which are reportedly not gaining any traction anyway. Although LaVine is believed to be on board with a potential deal, his pricey contract and history of injuries have severely limited the interest around the league.
The Bulls got off to a terrible start, but have won all three games since LaVine was forced out of the lineup by the foot issue, notes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. He points out that the team has displayed better ball movement and more balanced scoring in LaVine’s absence, posting season highs with 32 assists in wins over Milwaukee and New Orleans and having eight players with at least six points in Wednesday’s victory over Charlotte.
Players had already finished talking to the media when the announcement on LaVine was made, but several of them addressed how things have changed without him, Johnson adds.
“I think it’s given us a lot of confidence. Obviously with Zach out, being the caliber of player he is, it allows for more opportunity. But you can’t replace Zach LaVine,” Coby White said. “We try to do it collectively and try to make up for what he does on the floor.”
LaVine won’t accompany the team to San Antonio for Friday’s game, but he’s expected to speak with reporters on Thursday, according to Johnson, who states that LaVine wasn’t on the bench tonight because he was being evaluated by doctors.
LaVine will miss nine additional games if the injury keeps him sidelined for three more weeks, Johnson adds, and 13 games if he can’t return for four weeks.
Best news of the day…
More like good news for the bulls
13-0 streak for the Bulls incoming!
Winning without him does not help his trade value. He is suppose to be their best player, just showing he is a net negative.
He has always been a low IQ player with loser intangibles. He and Bradley Beal are the same. Beal is just a bigger “star”. At least we didn’t give him a no trade clause
Double edged sword for bulls. Will prolly keep playing better without him and great opportunity for Coby, ayo, pat, but also harder to trade him if the team keeps playing better without him. At this point I’d be thrilled to take some expiring contracts and move on.
He still has value for the right team. Miami might cave for the offense and can cover up his flaws. Lakers will not. They want DeRozan and Caruso who are less expensive. The Detroit Rumor him makes sense. Knicks wanted him last year and probably still do. We should have took that trade last deadline. Bulls always making bad decisions
The Miami Heat already have Tyler Herro so they might not trade for him
They might win some games now. Still not worth watching with 3 in a Just be healthy around the deadline.row though.
How will Da Bulls win without him?
Actually, this is great news!
The team is playing better and the best thing the Bulls can do is trade him when they can and be happy he is gone!
I said it in the past and will say it again he was never worth that contract!
I think he is worth the contract, just not for us as the “best” or 2nd best player. It worked great with Lonzo orchestrating the show but he has not improved on his basketball IQ and ability to lead to wins. Detroit can’t get any worse right. We should be able to get one young player and a pick for him plus expiring contracts. Similar to what Washington got for Beal.
A player who misses as much time as lavine already has and still will isn’t worth that contract at all.
What a mess. This organization is looking at another decade of futility. They were dumb to bring in Vuc and even dumber for not trading Lavine when he had a shred of value.
Bringing in Vuc was not dumb at the time. But yeah, should have traded Laverne 2 years ago.
What was Vuc going to do? Make their draft picks worse and have zero playoff success? Mission accomplished. Also. One of those 1st round picks was Franz Wagner. Horrendous trade.
I agree with LaVine part for sure!
It’s wrong to play results. AK and Eversley had a reasonable plan when the Bulls had LaVine, DeRozan, Vucevic, Ball and the rest of the supporting cast. Can’t help the injury situation especially with Ball’s injury. After the 2022-2023 the Bulls were between a rock and a hard place. Too good to tear down but not nearly good enough to compete for a championship. Wrong to make LaVine a scapegoat for the Bull’s poor season so far.
The injury situation would have been moot if they drafted Haliburton instead of Patrick Williams. LaVine is a low IQ player with loser intangibles. He and Beal compete for that title as the former All Star with those qualities. How many terrible mistakes has Zach made in the 4th quarter of games? Bobby Portis just went off on the Bucks team and coach last night after a loss. The Bulls should have been able to build around Portis and Butler but they didn’t want to care that much about winning. Just about selling tickets and increasing prices as long as the team had a modicum of success.
Painful thinking about how much better it would be to have Haliburton. Haliburton’s jump shot is unorthodox. Think it confused teams in the 2020 draft. At the time, Patrick Williams seemed the logical pick.