Zach LaVine is becoming a good problem to have for the Bulls
Zach LaVine is becoming a good problem to have for the Bulls
He's getting too good to keep
It looks like I may have to eat crow on my prediction that the Bulls would stink. They’ve looked feisty in wins against the Bucks and Grizzlies (without Ja Morant). Zach LaVine looks like the All-Star version of himself, and he’s changed some stuff with his game which I wrote about at Sporting News. Please check it out!
Here’s one other tidbit for the newsletter subscribers. Josh Giddey had a fantastic inbounds pass during the team’s 20 point comeback against the Grizzlies.
That cut that LaVine makes off Nikola Vucevic’s screen is called a UCLA cut. The Thunder used it to initiate every sideline out of bounds play they ran last year.
Billy Donovan stole that action from Mark Daigneault and put it into the Bulls’ offense for Giddey this year. It’s going to lead to some very pretty passes, particularly when whoever is guarding Vucevic has his head turned. Giddey loves to watch that big man and throw a bounce pass whenever he sees that defender sleeping on the cut. That’s why he’s considered one of the best inbounders in the league.
I said pre-season that this team wasn’t rebuilding, and the fact they were keeping LaVine and Vucevic, and that they didn’t extract maximum value in letting 2 of their best players go, made me think that everyone saying the Bulls were taking a youth movement was wishcasting. The Bulls never said they were rebuilding.
My hot taek was that they’d finish 10th in the East - again - and lose their draft pick. LaVine and Vucevic were going to cost them. They aren’t great players - which many people seemed to think I meant - but the difference between LaVine and Dalen Terry and Vucevic and Adema Sanogo is definitely worth 4-6 wins. It’s just the difference between being a capable NBA starter and a fringe hanger-on.
I feel I’m being vindicated so far in that regard. But I wouldn’t say this proves I’m right.
That said, I’m still amazed (and maybe I shouldn’t be), how easily Bulls bloggers declare something after such a small sample size. BleacherNation claimed LaVine was a great trade player now after the first game of the season. They also claimed Coby White proved last year wasn’t a fluke after the second game of the season.
The lack of nuance also still amazes me. “Not worth the paper his contract was printed on” is ridiculous (I do note you said the vague “some” or whatever and not saying you believed it). LaVine wasn’t good last year, but that doesn’t mean he was bad!!! He was fine. If his contract was the same as Vucevic’s, it would still have been an overpay, but still tradeable under favorable circumstances.
He’s been fine to good this year. I think most advanced stats would show that he’s been a net neutral to positive. That’s good for à bad team. For $45 million and matching salary for outgoing players??? Color me roundly unconvinced, even if he produces at the same level.
Who’s going to match salary and give LaVine a starting spot and want to commit to that contract for a +1.0 player?
Josh Giddey, king of the bounce pass.
Great redemption for Zach. He's handled the politics with grace. Always the professional.