Should We Be Concerned About The Bulls Plan For Zach LaVine?

 

Right now, the star player of one of basketball’s most famous franchises is about to be shut down for the season.

The star player in question is currently averaging career lows in field goal and free throw percentage.

By the Chicago Tribune’s estimate, the star player is currently part of a "failing chemistry test."

Now how many of you, given the ability to, would decide that this star player had done enough for the season? How many of you would say that this player is ready to lead the team to the playoffs and beyond come next season?

My guess would be that for most of you the answer is a resounding no. Despite all of the institutions fans may have, however, the Bulls appear to be contemplating heading down that road.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Bulls could be considering shutting down Zach LaVine for the rest of the season.

For someone who was the undisputed lynchpin player in the Jimmy Butler trade for the Bulls, it seems as though the team would want to see as much of him in competitive games as possible.

What people seem to forget about the Bulls rebuilding is the amount of uncertainty still involved in it. Right now, it seems like the Bulls have a young core to their team that could lead them back to serious playoff contention.

It’s fairly clear based on statistics alone that Lauri Markkanen is part of that core. At the same time, Kris Dunn has shown a desire to be the leading voice in the locker room and has put up stats that would back up such a role.

All of this was clear since the long gone Nikola Mirotic led win streak mere months ago. What’s happened since has been significantly less encouraging.

Since Zach LaVine’s return, the mood surrounding media around the team has shifted to less hope and more concern. The Bulls have been on the receiving end of some terribly lopsided losses with the most recent of which coming just this past week versus Denver.

Now solely blaming Zach LaVine for the Bulls recent downswing seems excessive at best, it does seem clear that he has not helped the process in the same way as a star player should.

With contract negotiations likely coming this summer, it seems prudent that the Bulls keep sending LaVine back out on the court, knee tendinitis and all. He needs to be able to overcome his knee injury, and while a couple games of rest seem reasonable to help shake off the rust, the whole rest of the season is a terrible idea.

Before the Bulls start throwing their money at LaVine like he’s the next LeBron James or Paul George, they should take a step back to evaluate their assets. Perhaps it’s best to have LaVine stay on the team next season with his reported $4.4 Million qualifying offer.

With the data available, it’s not clear to me, nor should it be clear to anyone interested in the team’s success, that LaVine is worth anywhere near a maximum contract. The Bulls should take the rest of this season, the summer offseason, and all of next year to fully understand what they have in LaVine.

What’s the worst that could happen? LaVine performs like the all-star he’s hyped up to be and signs for a huge maximum deal come June of next year? That seems to be a rather acceptable outcome for a team with as much cap space as the Bulls.

If the young core of Markkanen, Dunn, and LaVine truly is the key to the Bulls future success, then pay them as much and continue. If not, then it’s best that the Bulls start the second rebuilding now rather than later. I don’t know how many more 30 point losses I can take.