The Chicago Bulls completed the sweep of the preseason with two of their Big Three sitting out against the Milwaukee Bucks. But one of those two, Zach LaVine, put enough on film in his three exhibition games to raise red flags for some.
LaVine averaged just 8.7 points, 3.0 assists, and 1.7 rebounds per game this preseason; far off from his 24/4/4 line from last season.
But he did allude to coasting his way through the exhibition in the name of self-preservation coming off of an arthroscopic procedure on his knee. Perhaps that extra precaution has led to him turning the ball over at an alarming rate during the Bulls’ preseason run.
Is this something fans should be concerned about?
LaVine Losing Possession
The two-time All-Star LaVine skipped the preseason finale against the Bucks with the blessing of his head coach, Billy Donovan. He played just 92 total minutes – a part of the explanation for his lowly counting stats.
As one insider points out, this cannot bleed into the regular season if the Bulls want to make any noise in the Eastern Conference.
“For a two-time All-Star who underwent an offseason arthroscopic knee procedure and became a father for the first time, limiting his usual routine of playing 5-on-5 in the offseason, it’s notable for now, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago wrote of LaVine looking rusty this preseason. “LaVine posted 9 assists to 10 turnovers in a mere 62 minutes. He only played the first half of the preseason opener and sat out the finale.”
Last season, LaVine averaged 2.6 turnovers per game – his lowest amount since he averaged 1.8 giveaways per game in his first year with Chicago in 2016.
He played just 24 games that season.
“The majority of his turnovers were careless and telegraphed passes or dribbling into a crowd of defenders,” says The Athletic‘s Darnell Mayberry, “areas of decision-making LaVine must improve.”
LaVine has never been a turnover machine. But he has been prone to mental lapses leading to dribbling the ball off of his shoe or a careless pass into traffic.
Zach just gets buckets.
LaVine has earned an Olympic gold medal as well as two All-Star nominations on top of fatherhood and the richest contract in Bulls franchise history. It’s no wonder he is approaching this season as nonchalantly as he has publicly.
He has pushed back on the notion that he is under any additional pressure following that new max contract and has said that the birth of his son has put things in a different perspective.
But he’s also followed that by saying that fans don’t have to worry about him not being locked in.
“Donovan and teammates have raved about his pop in practices,” says Johnson. “And it’s also notable that LaVine’s defensive activity and commitment stood out during his two-and-a-half games.”
That latter point is a significant one.
Can LaVine be a Two-Way Player?
LaVine’s defense has been the subject of many discussions, especially leading up to his new deal. Some have argued that he can never truly be ranked among the game’s best since he has always been a negative defender. Others say that he is such an elite scorer that you just have to take the good with the bad and build around him accordingly.
The Bulls have DeMar DeRozan — who also sat out the finale — and Nikola Vucevic as their other best players.
If any of those three is going to bring a two-way element to the group, it has to be LaVine. He showed signs en route to winning Gold with Team USA in 2021. That newfound focus on the less-glamourous end showed up at the beginning of last season too.
Injuries suffered by him and Lonzo Ball saw LaVine revert back to his old self as the season wore on.
Along with his return to health appears to be the return of his defensive intensity. Coaxing that out of him for an entire season is going to be a challenge but at least Donovan has a willing participant in the 27-year-old.
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Bulls Star Zach LaVine Urged to Drop Bad Habit