Although Bulls swingman Zach LaVine is in the midst of a career year, the two-time All-Star’s teammates feel he is getting short shrift from national media and fans, writes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune.
“I don’t understand it,” guard Lonzo Ball said. “(He’s) definitely a top-three shooting guard in the NBA right now. I don’t understand why people talk down on him. He’s a true professional.”
Bulls guard Coby White, LaVine’s longest-tenured Chicago teammate, believes LaVine’s excellence has been under-appreciated for the entirety of their partnership.
“He’s been overlooked since I’ve been here,” White told Poe.
LaVine is shooting with remarkable efficiency as the top scorer on the 18-23 Bulls. Through 36 games, the 29-year-old is averaging 23.8 points per game on a .516/.455/.807 slash line. He’s also chipping in 4.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 0.9 steals per night.
Poe notes that Chicago has had just three games on national television this year, which could be partly to blame for why LaVine has been somewhat unheralded in 2024/25.
“Unfortunately, sometimes it’s out of sight, out of mind,” head coach Billy Donovan said. “When guys are not necessarily out there all the time, it’s hard. You’re not really watching them or seeing them or thinking about them.”
There’s more out of Chicago:
- Ball, meanwhile, has been impressive in his first healthy stretch since 2021/22, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Following three surgeries to address a recurring knee issue, he is finally back in action for Chicago, on a minutes limit. Cowley notes, however, that Ball is now consistently playing more minutes off the bench. “I didn’t know what to expect [of Ball] because a lot of the workouts that I watched were one-on-one, and I didn’t see him play five-on-five,’’ Donovan said of Ball’s gradual return ahead of the season. ‘‘I got pretty optimistic when training camp started. I was able to see he was running and doing the things he was doing. He [just] needed to get his timing back.”
- Bulls forward Patrick Williams has been only sporadically available to Donovan this season. When Williams does hit the floor, the head coach wants to see steadier production from the fifth-year wing out of Florida, Cowley notes in another Sun-Times story. “My expectations for him, even in my conversations with him, is, and this is going to be kind of a broad statement, but you got to feel him out there,” Donovan said. “That’s not necessarily scoring. He’s shot the ball pretty well. You gotta feel him on the glass, feel him in transition, feel him with the activity with his hands, feel him at the rim. That. I think he’s capable of doing that. That’s really been the message more than anything else, of him getting his body size, physicality into the game.”
- Williams inked a five-year, $90MM deal as a restricted free agent to stay with Chicago long-term over the summer. On Wednesday, he became trade-eligible.
Actual Top 5 Shooting Guards
1. Donovan Mitchell
2. Kyrie Irving
3. Devin Booker
4. Anthony Edwards
5. Derrick White
(Lol top 3)
(Also he’s not getting All-Star consideration bc the PG position exists)
Brunson, Lillard, LaMelo, Garland, Trae, Maxey, Haliburton, Cade, Herro… is LaVine even a top 10 guard in the East?
Nobody is talking down on LaVine. Lots of players put up gaudy stat lines nowadays, and there are 9 teams ahead of the Bulls in the win column.
2K- While I don’t know( Or Care Really) Where LaVine ranks in the SG hierarchy, All I know is he’s showing up for work every day and doing what they paid him for. Nobody can deny that when his legs and head are involved in the game he’s definitely a force to deal with. Whether that was worth the Max extension he got is another story. I thought the answer was no at the time and that the Bulls should have traded him to the Kings when they made him the Restricted FA offer the Bulls matched. Back then the offer was 18 million a year, Then they gave him the Max later. 2 mistakes and now they have to try and move him for pennies on the dollar. I told everybody at the time it was a mistake. Sorry I was right.
Unclemike : and some bulls fans want the bulls to keep him. Should trade him in his allstar year
Yeah Top 3 is a joke but I don’t think we should be classifying Kyrie or White as a SG.
Lavine is currently 4th in the East for SG PER. He is likely a top 15 guard in the East but also the East guards are fairly weak compared to the West.
I think he has had a nice season so far especially since he’s coming off injury.
his stats are good but the team is 5 games under .500. he doesn’t contribute to winning basketball, never has
Lavine maybe tradeable now! Top 3 is a joke however.
He just got outscored by Cason Wallace’s brother, who I didn’t even know was in the league….
Consistency has never been his strong suit. He’s always been streaky. Usually when he goes off for awhile the next thing you know he has some injury nobody can explain. If there was a good time to deal him it was last week.
Bulls need to trade LaVine, Vuc and P-Will before the deadline.