Chicago Bulls: 3 players with better upside after Jim Boylen’s departure
2. Zach LaVine
Somewhere, in the Seattle area, the starting shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls is laughing like a mad man.
While most people who call themselves Bulls fans had a special place in their mind reserved for Jim Boylen hatred, it’s fair to say Zach LaVine’s loathing of his head coach was special.
It doesn’t take a team psychologist to recognize frustration in a six-year veteran who doesn’t have the respect of his coach, the referees, or the national media. Throw that with never making the playoffs and you’d be pretty mad too.
LaVine has never been on a winning team but like Markkanen, was ready to burst out of the Eastern Conference cellar and rub it in the faces of the Charles Barkleys and Kevin McHales of the world that constantly bad mouth the Bulls on national television.
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Though LaVine’s season was far superior to Markkanen’s statistically speaking, the team finished under 30 wins and will be grabbing a lottery pick for the third season in a row.
LaVine personally was snubbed for an all-star spot after putting up career highs in points, rebounds and 3-point percentage. Although he did make a showing for the 3-point contest during All-Star weekend, he was knocked out in the first round.
More painful yet was the fact that the United Center served as host to the 2020 All-Star game and the Bulls didn’t have any other representation from their team during the festivities.
Once the season halted and then restarted without the Bulls, there was worry that Boylen’s head wasn’t on the immediate chopping block when Karnisovas and Eversley took the reigns. When the rumors started going around that Jim would be sticking around, reports started popping up about teams “doing background work” on Zach LaVine.
SNY sources: the Knicks and Nets are among teams who have done background work on Zach LaVine and are monitoring his situation in Chicago in case LaVine asks the Bulls for a trade ahead of his free agency. More here: https://t.co/3zXe7Ek82H
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) July 24, 2020
The headlines then snowballed into LaVine being shipped out by the trade deadline with Boylen still there, and then the team would be back where it was on Draft Night 2017 after the Jimmy Butler trade.
Thankfully, it is LaVine who is the person still in Chicago for the time being and at only 25 years old is just entering his prime on a pretty team-friendly deal.
(Less than $20 million a year for over 25 points per game is absolutely a bargain for the next two years.)
Not only does it give more flexibility for the 2021 free agency class, but LaVine being so young, set to have another fantastic scoring year and maybe his first all-star appearance could be the better attraction for guys like Anthony Davis or Giannis Antetokoumpo.
It will probably help if the new coach doesn’t do stupid things like taking his best player off the floor for over five minutes, alleging “three egregious defensive mistakes”, and with Markkanen hopefully moving more into a pick-and-roll spot on the floor (at the center spot, please), LaVine might have even more offensive freedom, which of course could culminate in a higher level of scoring dominance.