Chicago Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine has no plans to shut his season down for development and tanking purposes.
The Bulls will likely miss the playoffs again this season. LaVine, though, wants to play once his quad injury is healed:
“I mean obviously that’s happened before with players,’’ LaVine said, via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “That’s a conversation that they would want to have with me first. You guys know me, I don’t want to shut anything down. I don’t care about that other stuff. I like playing basketball first and foremost. If I’m healthy I want to go out there and play, finish the season just for me personally.”
For the Bulls this season, LaVine is averaging 25.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists. He’s shooting 45.0 percent from the field, 38.0 percent from beyond the arc and 80.2 percent from the free-throw line.
LaVine tweaked his quad before the Bulls’ matchup against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden a couple of weekends ago. He still played against the Knicks, but he was riding a stationary bike during his breaks. LaVine played 38 minutes versus New York and finished with 26 points, three rebounds and seven assists.
The Bulls haven’t made the playoffs since trading Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves on draft night back in 2017 for LaVine, Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn. While LaVine has established himself as one of the best scorers in the game, the book is still open on Markkanen and Dunn.
The Bulls had a record of 21-43 coming into Tuesday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Chicago is in 11th place in the East.
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