PHILADELPHIA – It’s been just over a month since Bulls guard Zach LaVine and his representation let it be known that the two-time All-Star was all for a breakup with the franchise and wanted to be traded elsewhere.
Rather than it resulting in a change of scenery, however, it’s just been just more script rewrites to the soap opera.
The Athletic spoke to LaVine’s agent, Rich Paul, and he let it be known that the idea of Lakers or bust for LaVine was not the only ball in play.
“It’s not one team,” Paul said in the article. “I don’t have a specific destination for Zach. I want what’s best for Zach and his family. When you have a guy playing the game, you want him to be able to play the game happy, whether that’s in Chicago or somewhere else.”
Sacramento was also sourced in the article by the writer as a possibility.
Real or Paul doing his job by trying to create a market that doesn’t currently exist?
The Sun-Times has reported several times that the Bulls front office was finding very little demand for LaVine, hoping that the climate would change as the Feb. 8 trade deadline approaches. There’s also a possibility that LaVine could remain a Bull, which would not be what either side want.
First things first, LaVine (right foot) missed his ninth straight game on Monday, and according to coach Billy Donovan, was still working in the timetable of a three-to-four week return that was laid out about two weeks ago.
“He’s doing some shooting and some straight-ahead jogging,” Donovan said of LaVine. “And I think he has passed all that. He’s been good. The issue for him going back to the last time was when he started the cutting. He has not done any cutting yet. The other part is when you get to the end of the three or four weeks or whatever it may be, he’s going to have to have some kind of ramp-up of physical activity in a practice or against player development guys where he can get himself going. But there’s been no setbacks.”
That means maybe an early- to mid-January return. More importantly, what LaVine will they be getting in that return? The one that wants to play his style of ball or the one that has to fall in line with how well the team has been playing without him?
Will LaVine be all in or simply in the way?
“I haven’t talked to him about that,” Donovan replied when asked that very question. “But in my conversations with him, and we speak every day, is No. 1 I think he really misses the game. The other thing is he has really been great on the bench, in the locker room pulling for those guys.
“It’s like DeMar (DeRozan) or Vooch (Nikola Vucevic) or any player, they all have to figure there’s going to be sacrifices they have to make. … I think he’s been a good voice in the locker room and on the bench trying to help and support those guys. I do think whenever he comes back and there’s a period of time where a player is out, everybody kind of readjusts to playing together again. That’s just normal.”
Playing the heel
Torrey Craig missed the game against the 76ers with the sore right heel that forced him out of the Heat game, and it might be a bit before the veteran reserve can return.
The team wants to get Craig back to Chicago so he can be scanned and fully evaluated.
“He just has like a lot of discomfort in his heel and they just wanted to make sure that they get the prognosis correct before they did any imaging or anything like that,” Donovan said. “Have him back there with our people.”