Two-time All Star, Zach Lavine the Chicago Bulls appear not be best of buddies, per reports
News making the rounds in the windy city of Chicago suggests that all is not well between two-time All Star, Zach Lavine and the Bulls organization.
Amidst the windy city team’s 11-18 season, Shams Charania and Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic reported Tuesday that “multiple league sources and sources close to the organization say LaVine and the Bulls are not seeing eye to eye. Over the past few weeks, there’s been a palpable feeling across various parts of the franchise of a disconnect over LaVine’s situation in Chicago.”
Inside the Chicago Bulls' concerning dynamics, the franchise and Zach LaVine not seeing eye-to-eye, and the organization's efforts to manage the on-court disconnect with LaVine and DeMar DeRozan — with @DarnellMayberry at @TheAthletic:https://t.co/k5dz1z00q8
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 20, 2022
Charania and Mayberry added the Bulls “have held multiple team meetings to try to work out their issues, and that has included one-on-one, face-to-face sit-downs” with LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
Quite disturbing in the current season is Chicago’s -5.4 net rating when its two best players are on the court together. Both have yet to find chemistry together, making obvious the disconnect between the All Stars.
Zach LaVine is coming back from offseason knee surgery and hasn’t quite looked himself so far this season. He’s lost some of the explosiveness that once made him the NBA Dunk Contest cham. His points per game have also dipped to 21.8, the lowest of his career since 2017-18, and he’s shooting just 44.3% from the field, also the lowest in six seasons.
Moving forward, the direction of the Bulls looks clouded per the fact that they still owe the Orlando Magic a top-four protected first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. By potentially pivoting from competing for a playoff and Play-In Tournament spot into a full rebuild, the Bulls’ front office would risk still being out of the top four and thus giving Orlando its pick.
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