After I openly questioned the Bulls moves over the summer of 2021, they went and got really good really fast. To the point where in early-January, they were playing at a sixty-win clip—a stunning turnaround for a team that had won just 31 games the year before.
But as is so often the case, gravity showed up and asserted itself. Injuries smacked the Bulls around like a right uppercut from Mike Tyson. Brutally efficient, they didn't even wait for the season to get ten-games old.
The first Bull to go down was young forward Patrick Williams. Beginning just his second season, Williams was being counted on to provide some scoring heft in addition to his emerging defensive chops.
But in game-five against New York, Williams was felled by a wrist injury. It kept him on the bench for five months—or until the Bulls' freefall was well under way.
The talented-but-fragile Lonzo Ball lasted until mid-January. He, as much as anyone, was responsible for the Bulls' sudden ascent. His knack for disrupting opposing offenses created fast-break opportunities, which fed right into the Bulls' transition-oriented offense.
Such a fast-paced offense served to minimize the Bulls' height deficit up front and masked several defensive deficiencies.
As of Ball's last game (Golden State January 14th) the Bulls stood at 27 – 12 and were in the thick of the battle for the Eastern Conference's top seed. From that point on, they went just 19 – 24, landing with a thud at the sixth seed.
And exactly one-week later, (Milwaukee January 21st) fan-favorite Alex Caruso sustained a wrist injury. The same physical, gutsy play that endeared him to ticket-buyers also seem to guarantee he will miss portions of every season.
Caruso's injury knocked him out for two-months. And that was after a COVID protocol removed him from service from just after Christmas until two days prior to his fateful encounter with the Bucks.
With three long-term injuries to critical personnel, it's not really much of a puzzle why that sixty-win pace couldn't be sustained.
And yet there was one more injury that would befall the Bulls. Piling on? Absolutely. Life in the NBA? Absolutely.
Zack LaVine, the centerpiece of the long-ago Jimmy Butler trade with Minnesota, had become an all-star caliber player. He excelled in transition and was never afraid to take the big shot. A rising talent? Without question.
Except for one thing. LaVine has a bad knee which resists easy diagnosis. In his contract year, it must be driving LaVine to distraction to have his knee go bad now.
While he never missed the block of time so many of his teammates did, LaVine's knee impacted him even when he played. It neutered his first step while introducing a previously unknown element of hesitancy in his game.
Max contract? Huh. What was once a no-brainer is now one steeped in second thoughts.
How bad is his knee? Would LaVine accept a less-than-max contract loaded with incentives? If not, how would it impact his value in a potential sign and trade? Even in the worst-case scenario, would the Bulls be able to replace him at a similar salary?
Despite LaVine's resolute language about exploring free-agency, his leverage as been dealt as big a blow as the Bulls'. After all, who wants to hand a max contract to a potentially damaged superstar? Especially with Anthony Davis' stay in L.A. so fresh in everyone's mind?
In many ways, LaVine and the Bulls are stuck with each other. They can't adequately replace him without incurring the luxury tax. LaVine would suffer a giant financial hit by signing elsewhere. Unless revelatory news arrives about LaVine's knee, I have to feel interest in him will be fraught with reservations. The question of which Zach are we getting looms large.
If LaVine is serious about getting out of Chicago, the Bulls should be able to extract significant recompense for their twenty-seven year-old superstar. You know, like the Sixers and Nets did for theirs last year.
Right?
On the other hand, would the absence of LaVine conceivably free-up Nikola Vucevic? Speed the development and consistency of Coby White? Ayo Dosunmu? How about Patrick Williams?
Despite his offensive fireworks, LaVine is not much of a defender. In a purely theoretical sense, I would be curious to see what those Bulls looked like. Additionally, we have to remember: in the player-centric NBA, an individual's worth to his team is often overrated.
Remember that Chicago sportswriters didn't think the 1993/94 Bulls would even make the playoffs after MJ's retirement. I wanted to laugh—and did.
Best-case scenario? LaVine's knee gets an all-clear, he gets his max contract and the Bulls are able to make the roster tweaks that propel them deep into next year's post-season.
Worst-case scenario? The condition of his knee remains inscrutable, he balks at the less-than-max contract offered by the Bulls and out of spite signs elsewhere, where he enjoys many productive years unhindered by knee trouble.
Take your pick.
Beyond the obvious, this could undo the recent advances Bulls leadership has made in making Chicago a free-agent destination.
Like the mountain of debt that can fit on a 3.37” x 2.12” piece of plastic, there is much riding on Zach LaVine's knee.
It will make for an interesting summer.
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