This season hasn’t exactly gone the way the Chicago Bulls had hoped. The team currently sits with a 19-25 record through 44 games and hold a three game lead over Philadelphia for the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference. Chicago snapped a five-game losing streak on the road against the Clippers on Monday, bringing some positivity to the locker room this week.
Zach LaVine led the way for the Bulls in the win over Los Angeles with 35 points. The 29-year-old has put together a solid season, as he is averaging 24.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game on 51.4% shooting from the field in his eighth season with the organization. His performance on Monday night put himself in some elite company in franchise history.
Zach LaVine adds another accolade in his Chicago Bulls career
With LaVine’s showing on Monday, he tied legend Bob Love for the second-most 30-point games in Bulls history, per K.C. Johnson. While the team hasn’t had much success in LaVine’s tenure, he has been a pure scorer as long as he has been able to stay on the floor.
The UCLA product has started and played in 39 games this season, which is already a huge improvement from the campaign prior. LaVine spent most of last year on the shelf due to injury as he played in 25 games and started 23 of them.
His last full season saw him average over 24 points per game, just like he is now. The 2022-2023 league year is the season where LaVine played his most games in a season ever, starting in all 77 contests that he participated in. He averaged 35.9 minutes per game that season, which is also a high in his career.
This year has been quite the break through for LaVine in his overall shooting game. The guard is currently shooting his highest marks both from the field and from three-point land in his entire career. Part of this improvement from LaVine has to do with his health, but also having more shots available to him. The DeRozan trade to the Kings over the summer opened up plenty of opportunities for LaVine and Vucevic to score at a higher clip. Both current Bulls are benefitting from these chances, and it could pay off for them shortly down the road.
Zach LaVine is an obvious trade candidate moving forward
LaVine’s improvement year turns him into a trade chip for Chicago’s front office. He has been a piece that management has supposedly been trying to ship out for a couple years now, but his numbers from this season actually warrant a potential move now.
If the team would have sent LaVine packing anytime prior to this season, they likely would have needed to attach a pick to the veteran. Instead, there is a realistic possibility where the Bulls don’t need to sacrifice draft capital in a deal at this point.
Moving on from a player like LaVine would lead to the end of an era for Bulls basketball. He was brought in through the Jimmy Butler trade with the Timberwolves back in 2017. His departure along with other veterans that could be on the move would mean that the organization is ready for a full scale rebuild. Based on where things stand right now with the Bulls, that appears to be their best option for the future.
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