Zach LaVine knows his Bulls roster is flawed.
Considering it’s been nearly the same group for two seasons and has won a single playoff game in that time, flawed was being kind.
But there the two-time All-Star was on Saturday, addressing the media for one last time before he returned to the West Coast to begin his offseason training, back in the lab again with very little to show for it, going into season No. 10.
“The front office has been very transparent with me,’’ LaVine said. “Obviously. I think we understand the type of team we have, the talent that we have. But it hasn’t been enough the last couple of years to get us over that hump.
“I have confidence in the group and everything that everybody put into it, top to bottom. But there are certain things that we do need to get over that hump. I think you guys know that. [Executive vice president of basketball operations] AK [Arturas Karnisovas] knows that. The players know it. But we are close.’’
That’s debatable, but even so LaVine was asked specifically what he wanted his front office to add in order for the Bulls to be a threat in the East.
“More consistency,’’ LaVine replied. “Obviously we didn’t shoot the three-ball very well. We turned out to be a pretty damn good defensive team. But just, I think coming into the season with me being a little bit banged up coming off the [left knee] injury slowed a lot of things down. And then picking up steam after All-Star break really helped us out. But just having that full consistency throughout the whole season I think would have helped out.’’
What LaVine didn’t see as an issue?
The idea that he and fellow All-Star DeMar DeRozan no longer work together.
He’s not alone in that thought, either.
While Karnisovas covered a lot of topics with the media an hour before LaVine spoke, the idea of moving one of his big three – LaVine, DeRozan, or Nikola Vucevic – didn’t sound like it was even on the table. Now, Vucevic is an unrestricted free agent and could have a say in that, but as far as the DeRozan-LaVine duo, it has all the momentum of getting a third act.
Both players feel it deserved that based on the last two seasons.
“Be honest what fits?’’ DeRozan said, when asked about the criticism of their games conflicting at times. “That would be my question. I honestly don’t pay no mind to it because the conversations me and him have on a daily basis how we can be better, how we can make the team better, is genuine and it’s big. So with that no one on the outside can question what our fit is because it’s all about us, how we can be better.
“I honestly don’t get caught up in the fit. They said Shaq and Kobe didn’t fit, they went on to win, so you can question anything about everybody. I think it’s just a matter of us finding the right sequence of dynamics that brings out the best in us and the other three guys on the floor with us, and we showed spurts of that plenty of times.’’
The other point made was they were yet to have a long run together when both were healthy. LaVine was dealing with the knee two months into their first season together, and by the time he felt completely confident with it this past December, DeRozan was having hip issues until the Heat eliminated them in Friday’s play-in finale.
With the right pieces and luck on the health side, DeRozan and LaVine remain confident that the results could be special.
“Man, what’s crazy is even talking to [LaVine] on the plane [late Friday] night, we haven’t even scratched the surface,’’ DeRozan said. “We haven’t been fully ourselves, and that’s the scary part about it.’’