The Chicago Bulls surprised many when they rattled off a 7-game win streak (and won 10 of 12) back in December, as most expected the Bulls to be the NBA’s worst team this season.
With that streak, Chicago vaulted out of the league’s cellar and presented a bit more optimistic view of where the floor is for the franchise as it begins its rebuild. The Bulls have dropped five of their last six, but on Saturday against the Pistons they will be getting help in a major way as Zach LaVine will make his Chicago debut, returning from his torn ACL.
LaVine has been working his way back and the Bulls have, smartly, been bringing him along slowly despite him being back doing basketball activities for more than a month. The snippets of video we’ve seen of LaVine suggest he hasn’t lost any of his bounce that made him a two-time dunk champion and one of the league’s most entertaining in-game dunkers.
During the 2016-17 campaign, LaVine averaged a career-high 18.9 points per game in 47 contests along with 3.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
The 22-year-old also shot a career-best 45.9 percent from the floor and made 2.6 three-point field goals per game.
While LaVine will play a supporting role at first, he seems a likely candidate to supplant Justin Holiday as the starter at shooting guard alongside Dunn.
Although Chicago is just 14-27 this season, it owns a record of 11-7 in its past 18 games, which has coincided with the return of forward Nikola Mirotic from injury.
Coach Fred Hoiberg is excited to insert LaVine into the team's up-tempo style of offense. LaVine shot 46 percent from the field and 39 percent of his 3-point tries last season. After a slow start offensively, Chicago has averaged 109.6 points per game over its last 18 contests.
"(LaVine) does fit with how we are playing right now, pace has been really good," Hoiberg said. "Really the last month of the season, the guys are starting to understand and get out and run and get things accomplished early in the possession, and Zach certainly fits into that as well, so he's a guy who can shoot it - you have a lot of plays to get him shots coming off screens. I think he'll be really good."
