Getty Zach LaVine #8 of the Chicago Bulls advances the ball
Can Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine reach the same postseason heights that guard, Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns has? One of the few Bulls players with playoff experience certainly thinks so and he took it upon himself to challenge LaVine to play like it.
Tristan Thompson is the Bulls’ newest player, having joined the team on February 19 after being waived by the Indiana Pacers on February 16. But he is also one of just two players on the roster with championship experience, having won a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.
The other is Alex Caruso who won a ring with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 in the Orlando Bubble.
Both players collected their jewelry alongside LeBron James.
The Bulls have a big challenge ahead of them. Their first-round playoff matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks has them at a disadvantage in talent and playoff experience. Caruso spoke of the importance of knowing one’s role when joining a team with championship aspirations on J.J. Redick’s “The Old Man & The Three” podcast in November.
Thompson chose a more direct approach.
The Challenge Issued
As first reported by NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson, Thompson said he challenged both Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. For Vucevic – whom Thompson said was too gifted, too talented, can do too many things on the court – it was simply to “be the best big in this series” and “a mismatch problem”.
For LaVine, though, it was much more specific.
Thompson also mentioned Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz. Both players took their games to new levels once in the postseason.
Booker co-piloted the Phoenix Suns to the NBA Finals last season alongside Chris Paul where they fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games. He averaged 27.3 points on 55.8% true shooting with 5.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists in the playoffs with 10 games of at least 30 points.
Mitchell has been to the playoffs every season of his five-year career, averaging over 20.0 PPG in each instance, but failing to advance beyond the second round.
Like LaVine, Mitchell is a supreme athlete who isn’t great defensively and could benefit from playing with a bit more focus and control. Mithcell’s Jazz teammate Rudy Gobert highlighting Booker taking pride on that end.
LaVine has moments like this one shared by CHGO’s Will Gottlieb on Twitter where a simple mental lapse by LaVine causes a negative chain reaction.
Value in Comparison
Booker is not the athlete that LaVine and Mitchell are. But he is every bit the scorer as those two and, if you take the word of Gobert and Thompson, then some. The French big man’s note of Booker taking pride in playing defense is interesting. There are times when the former University of Kentucky sixth man shied away from the less-glamorous parts of the game.
There is the infamous “we not doubling in open gym” story involving Joakim Noah. Just this season he got upset with the Toronto Raptors mascot during a January 11 victory.
The Suns finished eight games ahead of the next team for the NBA’s best record at 64-18 this season.
Gobert’s comments about Booker were viewed as a shot at Mitchell who was noticeably frustrated following a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on March 30.
The Jazz went on to win six of their final 10 games and finish as the five-seed in the West despite their perceived chemistry issues. These are the kinds of things Thompson was talking about when he spoke on the mental toughness needed in the postseason.
“I always believe the team that has the mental toughness and got dawgs and got the heart are going to have a chance to win the series.”
That could prove to be an issue for a Bulls team that has had their mental toughness publicly questioned on more than one occasion in the days since the regular season ended.
Thompson is Right
Thompson has logged 25 more playoff games in his career than the Bulls player with the second-most playoff experience on the team, DeMar DeRozan. We’ve heard DeRozan talk about how big of a factor that is going to be in this series against the defending champion Bucks.
If this is what it takes for LaVine to take his game to an even higher level – and for Vucevic to play up to his potential – then so be it.
Nothing else has worked and it would be a shame if the perception of their season was marred by an ugly postseason as they get ready to hand LaVine a max contract this offseason.